


risk it all

by SquishyCool



Series: in for a penny, in for a pound [1]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: 2000's Music, 80's Music, 90's Music, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Awkward Flirting, Bad Decisions, Beth is having her Hot Girl Summer, Cheating, Cunnilingus, Dirty Talk, Drinking Games, F/M, Face-Sitting, First Kiss, Flirting, Humor, Internal Monologue, Kinky Beth Greene, Making Out, Mutual Masturbation, No Condoms Ever, Nude Photos, Older Man/Younger Woman, Porn with Feelings, Risk Aware Consensual Kink, Secret Crush, Secret Fling, Self Confidence Issues, Sexting, Sexual Tension, Slang, Slightly Neurotic Daryl Dixon, Smut, Social Media, Summer Romance, Team Family are all mutual friends and NO ONE is dead, Texting, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Very Bold Beth Greene, Very Confused and Horny Daryl Dixon, filming a sex tape, meme references, near constant boners, there weren't supposed to be feelings but goddammit there are, very suggestive emoji usage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:35:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22767100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquishyCool/pseuds/SquishyCool
Summary: Daryl Dixon has a pretty decent life, all things considered. He's got his own place. A good dog. A few friends. Even a girlfriend.He keeps himself out of trouble.Until he starts texting Beth Greene.And hell, if he ain't about to risk itallfor this damn girl.Moonshine Awards 2020 First Place Winner for Best Complete AU!Moonshine Awards 2020 Third Place Winner for Best Complete Smut!
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene
Series: in for a penny, in for a pound [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653958
Comments: 176
Kudos: 240





	1. instagram

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written any smut in a while and I had an idea randomly pop into my head that I simply couldn't resist. So this will just be a fun little side-piece.
> 
> And there's been a little trend lately of sexting/social media fics--and I'm a total slut for that kinda thing--so how could I not hop on the bandwagon?

**instagram**

It all started with a drunken message.

His thumb just kinda… slipped. He was in a reckless state of mind. He’d momentarily forgotten how Instagram worked.

That’s what he told himself.

But in reality, he was pissed and full of resentment after another stupid fight with his girlfriend. He was drunk on whiskey and beer, because he’d decided to stay at the bar and keep drinking after she’d made a big scene and stormed out.

And hell, he was a little horny on top of all that. Yeah, he’d pretty much been expecting to get laid—that was a predictable ending to another night at the bar with his girl. It’s what they always did on Saturday nights.

So he had blue balls, too. In a sense. 

Despite all of that, he would never admit to himself why he’d _really_ sent that damn message. Because that would mean admitting that he had a thing for Beth Greene.

Nah, he didn’t see her that way—he’d _never_ see her that way. Wasn’t possible. When he first met her, she was just a dumb little teenager. Now she was just a dumb little college chick. There wasn’t anything _different_ about her, though.

So why was he suddenly starting to think of her in that way? Was he a pervert?

Maybe. Or maybe he was just feeling reckless.

What’s life without a little risk, anyhow?

* * *

Daryl sat in the rickety old chair on his front porch, sipping a beer and chain-smoking. Dog was lying a few feet away, head rested on his paws and eyes shut. Andrea still hadn’t called or texted back since she’d angrily sped away from the bar. Daryl couldn’t even remember what he’d said to start this fight in the first place, but he wasn’t in the mood to dwell on it. Her tantrums had become exhausting and he could only hope she’d cool down and call him in the morning.

Until then, he had nothing but his phone, Dog, and the lightning bugs to keep him company. Which was fine—he never minded being alone. But he was feeling restless, and more than a little agitated at the thought of jerking himself off once again and passing out. It was just one of those nights where he was in the mood for some female companionship.

He wanted to get his mind off it, though. So he smoked his cigarettes and drank his beer and scrolled through social media on his phone. Not that he had a whole hell of a lot of friends to be checking up on, but it was something to keep him busy until he was tired enough to lay down.

When he opened up Instagram and began to mindlessly scroll through, he noticed Beth had recently posted something to her Story. He tapped the little circle on his screen, expecting a video of baby Judith or a photo of something on the Greene Farm, as was the usual. Instead, he was met with a filtered photo of Beth— _just_ Beth.

A whole fuckin’ lotta Beth, actually. More than Daryl had ever seen before. And in a _very_ new light.

It was innocent enough: nothing more than a black-and-white mirror selfie in her bedroom. She was sporting a new bikini, long blonde hair pulled back in a bun, sunglasses on her face and phone in hand. There was a mischievous smirk on her lips. The caption in the corner read: _time for a visit to my favorite swimming hole!_

But all Daryl could think was, _Since when does Beth have hips? And legs for days? Where did those pert little tits come from? Why does her neck and her tummy and her thighs look so goddamn… delicious?_

The photo disappeared and he quickly tapped to open it back up, letting his eyes linger over every detail. Christ, why was all the blood rushing to his dick right now? The Story ended once again and he had to tap and open it up a third time. But instead of staring at Beth’s skimpily-clad body, he tapped down on the comment bar with his thumb.

Before he could stop himself or give it a second thought, he typed out, “ _Damn girl_ ” and hit Send. A little bubble popped up and declared, _message sent!_

Oh yeah—comments on Stories were actually Direct Messages. Well… too late now. 

He shook his head and blinked, taking a long sip of beer and tapping on Beth’s story once more. He took in the image one last time and then moved on to the next Story, trying to distract himself.

Even in his state of inebriation, making a comment like that on social media felt like something a pervert would do. He could only hope Beth would “like” the message and forget about it. The last thing Daryl needed was for her to go telling her daddy or her sister that Daryl Dixon was trying to slide into her DMs.

He tapped through the next few Stories—Rick’s and Carol’s and Ezekiel’s and Eugene’s and Tara’s, photos of baby Judith and teenager Carl playing together, Sophia at the swimming pool, Carol and Ezekiel lounging in the sun, whatever new video game Eugene was currently geeking out over, Tara dressed in her police uniform and cheesing in the mirror. Then Beth showed up again. She was in that damn bikini, but she wasn’t the one taking the photo; she was standing at the edge of a pond with her friend, Amy, all smiles and sunglasses and sun-kissed skin. 

Oh yeah, he’d forgotten that Beth was friends with Andrea’s little sister. Shit. He _really_ shouldn’t have let his fingers type out that damn comment.

But was he really so wrong for being unable to tear his eyes away from the image of Beth in a bikini? Amy may as well have been part of the background, because all he could see was Beth. The soft curve of her neck, the little mole between her breasts, the slight indentions just above her bikini bottom—like two discreet arrows pointing downward… 

The photo disappeared and the rest of Amy’s Story played. He tapped through a looping selfie of Amy in the sun and a filtered photo of the pond’s rippled surface. The last picture to pop up was Beth sitting in the back of a truck, skin glistening with water and a towel wrapped around her shoulders, with a guy sitting close at her side and planting a kiss on her cheek. He had messy dark hair and looked to be around the same age as her.

Of course she had a boyfriend.

She probably had a whole slew of boyfriends, Daryl reckoned, if she was walking around looking like _that_ all the time.

He realized Amy had tagged Beth’s boyfriend in the photo, so he tapped on the screenname out of curiosity and took a brief visit to Zach’s Instagram page. According to Zach’s bio, he went to the same college as Beth, he was 23, and he was a “Gemini”—whatever that meant. Daryl quickly grew disinterested and went back to watching other people’s Stories.

But a few seconds later, he found himself on Beth’s page. Her bio was a string of emojis that he didn’t really understand. He scrolled down, gazing at all of her photos with an odd sense of intrigue. Zach was in a few of them, but it was mostly just her. She posted a lot of pictures of pianos and guitars and notebooks full of writing, as well as flowers and random scenery from around the Greene Farm. There were pictures of her family and her friends, Hershel and Shawn and Maggie and Glenn and Amy and a dozen other faces that Daryl didn’t recognize, as well as tons of snapshots from around her college campus. And, as was typical for any girl her age, there was also a fair amount of selfies.

Daryl unabashedly tapped on each photo that contained Beth, scrutinizing them in a whole new way.

Holy shit, when did _this_ happen? Beth Greene had grown up while he wasn’t looking. She’d always been cute—not in a jailbait kind of way, more in an all-American blonde kind of way.

But now she was… downright _hot_. 

He almost felt bad for thinking that. Then a notification popped up.

_greene.with.envy liked your reply to their Story!_

Oh, crap. It was late. He hadn’t expected her to see the message until morning, when he’d be sober and more inclined to forget he’d ever sent it.

His heart skipped and he wasn’t going to open his messages at all. But then another notification popped up.

_greene.with.envy: Lmao thanks, I think?_

His thumbs were tapping out a response before he could so much as try to resist.

_notthatdixon: Didn’t mean it in a bad way._

_greene.with.envy: Well thank you then :)_

_notthatdixon: Does your dad know you post pics like that on the internet_

_greene.with.envy: Excuse me, sir. I’m grown. Lol_

_notthatdixon: Since when_

Daryl took a swig of beer and realized his cigarette had burned out while he was ardently texting Beth back. His heart was hammering and he wasn’t sure why, but his eyes were glued to the screen of his phone and the tiny _Typing…_ animation. He was anxious to read Beth’s reply for no good damn reason. He fumbled with his other hand to light a new cigarette.

Just as he inhaled a fresh drag of nicotine, her next messages popped up.

_greene.with.envy: Idk since I’m 21 and moved out and going to college?? Lol when’s the last time you even saw me_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: Like 5 years ago or something? People change, Dixon. ;)_

What the hell was with the winky emoji? Whatever. He took another drag off his cigarette and texted back.

_notthatdixon: Something like that. You sure changed a lot._

_greene.with.envy: Okay, creeper…_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: Jk ;) thanks for noticing lol_

_notthatdixon: Not a creeper. But you’re welcome._

_greene.with.envy: Kind of a creeper… but that’s okay. Lmao_

_notthatdixon: Wtf how_

_greene.with.envy: Ummm it’s 2 am and you’re replying to my Story from this afternoon lol_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: And you just liked one of my selfies from 4 months ago… so…_

Shit. Daryl rapidly exited his Direct Messages and went back to Beth’s page. Within seconds of backtracking, he realized he’d accidentally double-tapped one of her selfies while examining it. And of course, it was dated March 18th. It was too late to unlike the picture now. She’d already seen the notification.

He returned to their conversation and saw _Typing…_ But he tapped out his own response before hers could be finished.

_notthatdixon: Accident. Doesn’t make me a creeper._ _  
_ _notthatdixon: Was just seeing what you’ve been up to. I don’t get on here much._

The Seen status didn’t pop up and he began to think she’d put her phone down and gone to sleep. But then a new notification popped up. And another. And another right after.

_greene.with.envy liked your photo._ _  
_ _greene.with.envy liked your photo._ _  
_ _greene.with.envy liked your photo._

Daryl blinked in surprise. He exited the conversation just long enough to check his Activity tab.

Beth had liked 3 different photos that he’d posted ages ago. He didn’t even have more than 100 posts on his page altogether. But when he clicked on the notifications, he saw that she’d gone through his photos and picked the only 3 pictures that could be considered “selfies.” One of them was him and Merle posing together—Daryl was shirtless, and they were both half-drunk. Another was him and Carl in front of a mirror in Rick’s house, goofing off together. And the last was a very inebriated snapshot of him and Rick during a night out on the town around New Year’s Eve.

He returned to their conversation just in time to see her next message arrive.

_greene.with.envy: Didn’t mean it in a bad way._ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: ;)_

What the— _Jesus_ , was it the cigarettes making his blood pressure skyrocket right now? Or was he simply misinterpreting her messages and suggestive emoji usage?

_notthatdixon: Now who’s the creeper?_

_greene.with.envy: You started it lol_

_notthatdixon: Can’t give you a compliment without being called a creep? My bad. Should I take it back_

_greene.with.envy: That’s not what I said lmao_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: You’ve changed a lot, too._

_notthatdixon: Not really._

_greene.with.envy: Lmfao_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: Don’t you have a gf?_

_notthatdixon: Yeah. So?_ _  
_ _notthatdixon: Don’t you have a bf_

For the briefest moment, Daryl wondered if he’d said the wrong thing. Then he wondered where the hell this conversation was going. But before he could contemplate it any longer, he saw that Beth was _Typing…_

Her response popped up a second later.

_greene.with.envy: Yeah. So…?_

He couldn’t figure out why his cock was semi-hard and twitching beneath his pants, or why he couldn’t bear to peel his attention away from the phone in his hand. What the fuck was he doing? Why was he texting Beth Greene at two in the goddamn morning?

And why did it feel like _flirting_?

He tensed up awkwardly when he tapped Send on his response.

_notthatdixon: Idk. You brought it up._

The message sat Seen for what felt like several long seconds. The _Typing…_ animation didn’t show up and he quickly tried to compensate, unwilling to let the conversation end there.

_notthatdixon: Shouldn’t you be asleep? It’s past your bedtime._

To his pleasant surprise, she was typing again.

_greene.with.envy: I don’t have a bedtime. I’m on summer vacation lol what’s your excuse?_

_notthatdixon: Don’t got one. Just can’t sleep._

The message was immediately Seen but she hadn’t begun typing back yet. His curiosity got the best of him.

_notthatdixon: So you back home for the summer?_

_greene.with.envy: Insomnia? Or bad day?_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: Yeah. I’m staying on the farm until I go back next month._

_notthatdixon: Been drinking. Good day. Shitty night. Oh well. Wbu?_ _  
_ _notthatdixon: Oh okay. That’s cool. Bet your family’s glad to have you home._

_greene.with.envy: That sucks, I’m sorry. So are you drunk? Lol_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: I’m just an insomniac haha and yeah they’re glad to have me back for a few months but I can’t wait to get back to school! I know it sounds bad but it’s just kinda boring out here lol_

_notthatdixon: Ha no. Not drunk. Why?_ _  
_ _notthatdixon: And nah I get it. Not a lot to do out here, I bet that fancy college is a lot more fun_

_greene.with.envy: Just wondering lol_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: Fancy?? Lmao not even! But it’s a little more exciting than the farm for sure_

Daryl hesitated, thumbs hovering over the screen of his phone, cigarette nearly burnt down to the butt. He took one last drag and tossed it out into the grass, then chased it with a sip of beer. He wasn’t quite sure what to say that would keep their conversation going, but he had some ideas.

He’d just begun typing out a response when she beat him to the punch.

_greene.with.envy: Do you have Snapchat?_

_notthatdixon: Any college that has dorms is fancy in my book._ _  
_ _notthatdixon: Yeah but I barely use it. Why?_

_greene.with.envy: lol I guess you’re easy to impress then huh ;)_ _  
_ _greene.with.envy: Add me on snap. blueandyellow98_

Without question, he exited Instagram and browsed through his apps in search of Snapchat. Then he remembered that he’d deleted it ages ago because he never used it. So he quickly downloaded it and spent a few seconds struggling to remember his password. When he finally signed in, he navigated his way to the Add Friend feature. He typed in Beth’s username and a moment later, she’d accepted his request and added him back.

Her display name showed up on his very short list of chats as _Beth_ , accompanied by a music note emoji and a sunflower emoji. Her Story popped up in his Feed and he opened it to find a couple of photos and one short video that were very similar to what had been posted on Instagram.

Then a notification popped up.

_Beth sent you a chat!_

He opened up their brand new Snapchat conversation and found her message.

_Beth: Wanna see my cat?_

Daryl froze, breath hitching in his chest. Did she mean…?

Before he could ask her to specify, she sent a photo. He tapped on it and watched as it filled his screen for ten whole seconds.

It was a Snap of a fat tabby cat lying curled up and sleeping atop a blanket-covered body shape with a caption that read: _look at this sleepy asshole_. Daryl examined the picture and smirked, taking in the details of Beth’s comforter and the low lighting in her bedroom.

Now he was imagining her lying in bed, half-naked beneath her blanket with her phone in hand while she messaged him from the darkness of her bedroom. He tried not to give it _too_ much thought, though.

He tapped the Reply button and sent her a photo of Dog sleeping on the porch a few feet away. He added a caption that said, “ _here’s mine lol_.”

Beth viewed the Snap and responded almost immediately.

_Beth: Omg when did you get a dog?? He’s so cute!!!_

_Daryl: Lol about a year ago. He’s a handsome SOB ain’t he_

_Beth: Just like his owner ;)_

Wait— _what_? Daryl blinked and reread their exchange. Then, dick twitching, he responded.

_Daryl: You saying I look like a dog lol_

_Beth: That’s a reach lmao_ _  
_ _Beth: Talk about not being able to take a compliment_

She added an eye-rolling emoji and Daryl scoffed aloud. He took a swig of beer and contemplated a few different responses. Then he decided on one and typed it out.

_Daryl: Idk why you would be complimenting me_

_Beth: You don’t have to play dumb, ya know lol_

He froze, staring down at his phone with a look of bewilderment. What was he supposed to say to that?

Thankfully, he saw that she was _Typing…_ again, so he decided to wait before trying to form a response.

_Beth: You remember the last time we saw each other?_

_Daryl: Yeah. Last summer. When I drove by the farm and you were out riding horses by the road. We waved at each other._

_Beth: Lmao no I mean the last time we actually spoke_ _  
_ _Beth: But it’s cute that you remember that :) I forgot about it. You were on your brother’s bike and it spooked my horse! Lol_

_Daryl: Yeah my bad. But no I don’t remember the last time we talked in person. Sorry._

_Beth: That’s okay. It was a while ago. I was still in high school. Remember I called you because my car broke down like 10 miles away from my house and nobody else would answer their phones?_

He did remember that, actually. But damn, he didn’t think she would have. If he recalled correctly, she was still a junior in high school. It had been winter time because he remembered how she was shivering whenever he finally pulled up. And he’d leant her his coat while he jumpstarted the car. She’d hugged him tight and given him a kiss on the cheek.

That felt like a lifetime ago. She’d been all chubby cheeks, flat chest, ponytails, and dirty jeans. He’d gazed down at her cornflower blues and seen a naive teenaged girl, someone who probably looked at him like a dependable big brother. 

Now she was “grown,” as she put it. And the hell if he’d dispute that fact. He could see the stark difference already, even if it was just Instagram photos and Snapchat videos.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to look at her the same again.

_Daryl: Oh yeah, I remember that. Damn it really has been a long time_

_Beth: Lol it has! We should hang out sometime before I go back to school._ _  
_ _Beth: If you want._

Daryl swallowed hard. A rush of blood went straight down to his groin and he shifted uncomfortably. Maybe it would be for the best if he ended this conversation sooner rather than later.

_Daryl: And do what_

_Beth: Idk. Catch up. Have a beer or something._ _  
_ _Beth: You can say no if it really sounds that awful lol I promise you won’t hurt my feelings._

_Daryl: Wasn’t gonna say no_ _  
_ _Daryl: Just don’t wanna piss off that bf you got_

_Beth: Why would he care…_

_Daryl: Idk_ _  
_ _Daryl: You tell me_

_Beth: We could go swimming! That would be fun._

_Daryl: I don’t swim._

_Beth: Then I’ll swim and you can watch ;P_

_Daryl: Maybe_

_Beth: You can bring your gf if you want_

_Daryl: If it’s on the weekend I guess. She lives in the city._

_Beth: Oh yeah I forgot Andrea lived in Atlanta lol_ _  
_ _Beth: Well Zach is going back home for the rest of the summer tomorrow_

_Daryl: That sucks ?_

_Beth: It’s not so bad :) but we have church in the morning and then lunch before he leaves so I gotta get up early_ _  
_ _Beth: Guess I should get some sleep lol_

_Daryl: Sounds like it_

Shit. He was bad at this—like, _really_ bad at this. But he honestly didn’t know what else to say. He’d never felt so damn awkward over a stupid social media conversation.

And he really didn’t want her to think he was some kind of pervert. He was almost certain that he was reading too deeply into signals that weren’t actually being sent. And what if Beth ended up telling Amy about this conversation?

He needed to put down the beer and go to bed.

_Beth: Okay well, talk to you soon?_ _  
_ _Beth: Just message me whenever you wanna make plans_

_Daryl: Sure thing. Night_

_Beth: Sleep tight :)_

He kept staring down at the screen for several minutes after Beth’s online icon had disappeared. When he finally closed the app and set his phone down, he ended up picking it back up and going right back to reread their messages. Like maybe he could get a clearer idea of… whatever the hell that exchange had meant.

But when he opened it up, he found that it had disappeared. With a pang of disappointment, he remembered that—unlike Instagram DMs—Snapchat messages went away as soon as the app was closed. 

Stupid fucking social media.

**to be continued…**


	2. snapchat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth can't sleep.  
> Not that Daryl could anyway, but he definitely won't be now.

**snapchat**

It was exactly half an hour later when Daryl’s phone vibrated. Dog remained undisturbed, sleeping soundly beside Daryl atop the blanket. The screen lit up, briefly casting a dim glow around the dark bedroom. Daryl rolled over with a sigh and reached out to grab it off the nightstand.

Might as well. He’d been lying here for at least fifteen minutes already, too restless to keep his eyes shut. He was beginning to envy his dog’s ability to sleep. Daryl had too much alcohol lingering in his bloodstream, too many frustrating thoughts about Andrea. And admittedly, a few too many mental images of Beth that wouldn’t leave his head. (Not that he was trying to push them out too terribly hard in the first place.)

He was half-expecting a new email or a drunken text from Merle. Maybe even a nagging message from Andrea. But instead, he found a new Snapchat notification. His heart skipped and he opened his eyes a little wider.

_From Beth_

He unlocked the screen and went straight to Snapchat, where he found a pink square waiting for him beside her name—which meant a photo instead of a chat. He eagerly tapped on it and watched as his screen was filled with a low-lit selfie of Beth from just below the neck.

The first thing he noticed was that she was lying in bed, a pillow beneath her head. The next thing he noticed was the way her perfect pink lips were wrapped ever-so-delicately around a red popsicle, dainty fingers gently pinching the wooden stick. She wasn’t wearing any makeup and there wasn’t enough light to make out a whole lot of details, but her long blonde hair was splayed out beneath her head and her cheeks were pink, blue eyes bright and heavy-lidded.

The caption read: _Can’t sleep_ with three rolling-eyes emojis—and one single ice cream cone emoji. 

The Snap timed out and disappeared and he reflexively tapped Replay. He stared down at it for another ten seconds, taking in every aspect and pretending to ignore the way his cock was twitching to life beneath the blanket.

When it timed out again and the photo disappeared forever, he paused. Obviously he was terrible with words, so maybe he should just do the thing where he sent her a picture back and sympathized with her plight. Not that he’d ever used Snapchat for such a thing. But whatever. He’d make an exception for Beth. It wasn’t like he’d be getting to sleep anytime soon. So what the hell, right?

He tapped Reply and opened the front camera, holding his phone out and up. He turned the Flash on and hit the Capture button. He was left with a low-light photo of himself, his arm covering his eyes and leaving only the bottom half of his face revealed—along with the part of his bare upper chest that peeked out from the top of the blanket. He added a caption that said, “ _Me either_ ” with three thumbs-down emojis.

At the last second, he added a fourth emoji: a tongue. 

Then he hit Send before he could second-guess himself.

Almost immediately, the Snap was Opened. Daryl’s pulse sped up and he began to ask himself why the fuck he’d added that stupid emoji. It was weird. Beth would think it was _weird_. She was probably staring at it with total confusion.

But then the Snap switched to Replayed. 

She viewed it twice? Was she not paying attention the first time?

He almost wanted to add a message and say, “sorry, didn’t mean to add that last emoji.” But he stopped himself just in time to see a new Snap arrive. He opened it and his breath hitched in his throat.

It was similar to the last photo she’d sent, though it showed _more_. She’d pulled her phone back a bit and captured her bare shoulders peeking out from the top of her blanket, as well as the upper part of one bare arm. But the little crease of milky skin that led down to the curve of her breasts—the telltale sign that she was topless underneath those covers—wasn’t even the first thing he noticed.

That same red popsicle was gripped between her fingers, but her lips weren’t wrapped around it this time; her mouth was open, tongue barely sticking out, and the tip of the popsicle was teasingly touching the flat part of her tongue. Cornflower blues gleamed directly at the camera, eyelids hooded almost licentiously, pupils wide and dark.

The caption she’d included was a lot less suggestive than the photo itself: _Is your house too hot to sleep like mine? Lol._ She’d added two flame emojis to accentuate her point—and one squirting water emoji. For… some reason.

Jesus Christ, he was getting a semi again. And it was _much_ more difficult to ignore this time around. What the fuck was this girl playing at? Was he just a dirty old man? These Snaps were innocent enough, right? Surely he was just letting his libido get the best of him.

He needed to stop thinking about Beth Greene like _that_. It was just a goddamn popsicle.

Regardless, that didn’t stop him from tapping Reply and aiming the phone camera downward. He pressed Capture on a Flash-lit photo of his bare leg sticking out from beneath the thin blanket atop him—making sure to leave the slight bulge of his semi under the fabric just out of frame—and his foot sticking out at the end of the bed. But his upper thigh was barely visible and it was clear that he was sleeping naked. Though he obviously wasn’t hinting at _that_.

He typed a caption that said, “ _Always too hot in the summer._ ” Just to be safe, he added a couple of emojis that resembled an overheated person sweating.

Within seconds, Beth had viewed his Snap. And Replayed it. Then another pink square popped up. Daryl tapped on it and watched the photo fill his screen.

Holy fuck, this girl was gonna give him heart palpitations.

She’d sent him an image of her bed, a similar angle to what he’d Snapped. But _a lot_ more revealing. He had to Replay it just to comprehend what he was seeing.

The photo was angled down from somewhere near her chest. The entire side of her body was peeking out from beneath the lightweight blanket, leaving everything from feet to thigh to hip exposed, stopping just short of the curve of her ribs that led up to her inevitably bare breasts. The only evidence of clothing was a thin strip of red fabric across her hip that disappeared into the darkness of the blanket—she wasn’t wearing anything but panties. Red panties.

He only noticed the caption during the last 3 seconds that the Snap remained on his screen: _Same!! I can’t get comfortable!_ There was a single crying face emoji at the end of her caption.

The photo went away and he was left with his own bewilderment.

He wasn’t sure why he was feeding into this whole thing, but he didn’t allow himself a chance to hesitate. He Snapped a near identical photo as before and added a caption: _Idk why. Your bed looks a lot more comfortable than mine._ He chose not to risk using an emoji. He pressed Send.

Beth didn’t replay his Snap this time. Less than ten seconds later, she’d responded with another photo.

Like his, it was similar to the prior Snap. But he noticed the difference immediately—she’d slid the blanket aside no more than an inch, revealing just a bit more skin. A hint of more leg, a tantalizing sample of more bare thigh and flat tummy, the tiniest exposure of more red fabric stretched across a jutting hip bone. The same tease of a curvy trail leading upwards and downwards and sideways towards places unknown.

Her caption read: _Feel free to come find out for yourself :P lol_

Daryl clasped his phone in one hand, thumb hovering over the screen, and watched Beth’s Snap disappear. He tapped Replay. As if on reflex, his other hand drifted down and rested atop his semi-hard cock through the blanket. He gave it a squeeze and bit down on his lower lip, eyes glued to the picture on his phone, groaning from the back of his throat.

God help him… ‘cause he sure as hell couldn’t help _himself_.

The porcelain samples of skin that had occupied his screen disappeared, and he quickly pulled his hand away to rest it over his blanket-covered thigh. His dick twitched noticeably through the layer of fabric, but he tried to ignore it. Though that was basically impossible at this point—he’d already acknowledged his arousal. He’d already encouraged it. Now he couldn’t get it off his mind.

He desperately wished he could replay that last Snap one more time. He was pretty sure he could get off with just one more glimpse of those tantalizing red panties and a little effort from his imagination.

He responded with a Snap from the same angle as before, though his hand was in frame this time and resting atop his thigh. He typed in a caption with one unsteady thumb: _Little too late for that long of a drive ain’t it lol_

She viewed his reply and immediately sent one back. Another tempting angle of her obviously bare form covered by a thin blanket.

He hit Replay and lingered on the image, rereading the caption: _Never too late :)_

Daryl captured another image of his blanket-draped leg and typed the first and only thing that had run through his head: _Well goddamn girl…_

She replied less than twenty seconds later with a dark selfie of her face, one eye squinted shut and her red-tinted tongue sticking out in a goofy expression, and a caption that said: _What?? Is that supposed to be another compliment? ;P_

This time, he utilized the front camera on his phone and Snapped another photo of the bottom half of his unshaven face and his bare upper chest. Just before hitting Send, he typed in a caption: _Don’t gotta play dumb._

The Snap he got back showed her popsicle-stained red lips, her chin, and her bare upper chest. The caption read: _Who’s playing dumb? Me or you? ;)_

He hit Replay and stared at the blanket barely covering her breasts, trying to figure out if she’d actually slid the fabric down just a bit more or if he was just imagining things. His dick twitched and sent a jolt of excitement through his body.

He took another dark selfie from the same angle as before, hiding the way his cheeks had flushed. He held his breath as he typed, _“Both? Think you know what I really wanna say.”_ He hit Send and exhaled.

Fuck, fuck, _fuck_. He shouldn’t have said that. He could feel the blood leaving his cock and rushing up to warm his face as he watched the Snap turn from Opened to Replayed.

Then her reply arrived. He tapped on the little pink square as soon as it appeared. His phone screen was once again filled with a fleeting image of Beth from the same angle as before, with a mischievous smirk curling her lips upward, and—had she slipped the blanket down another centimeter? _Jesus_.

Her caption said: _Then say it… Unless you’re too scared :)_

This fucking girl… Daryl smirked to himself and willed his heart rate to return to normal, but to no avail.

He tried not to ask himself what the hell he was doing as he sent back another dark selfie and said, “ _Ha good one. Why would I be scared_ ”

She responded almost immediately with another low-lit photo of her barely concealed chest. He read her caption: _Cuz you think I’m gonna get you in trouble lol_

Well, she wasn’t _wrong_. But he wasn’t about to admit that.

His hands were nearly trembling with excitement as he Snapped a blurry photo of his upper chest and arm and typed in, “ _Good to see you acknowledging the fact that you’re trouble_.”

The photo he received next showed her hand covering her mouth and her eyes looking to the side. Her caption read: _I might be trouble, but I can keep a secret…_ She added an emoji of a locked padlock and a face that looked like its mouth was zippered shut. 

Daryl told himself that there was still enough whiskey and beer swimming through his head to constitute what he did next.

Instead of taking another slightly suggestive selfie, he typed into the chat bar.

 _Daryl: Fine_ _  
__Daryl: I think you’re fucken hot_ _  
__Daryl: You happy now?_

He was glad he was lying down as he watched Beth _Typing…_ and anxiously awaited her response.

She sent three emojis of a crying laughing face—and one heart eyes emoji. Then:

 _Beth: Yes I am!_ _  
__Beth: I knew I could count on you to be honest, Mr. Dixon ;)_ _  
__Beth: And I thank you for the compliment :)_

 _Daryl: You’re welcome_ _  
__Daryl: Didn’t want you to think I was hitting on you or something_

_Beth: So you think I’m hot, but not hot enough to hit on me…? :(_

Daryl’s breath hitched and he bit down on his lower lip. His thumbs were flying across the keyboard.

_Daryl: You really are trouble._

_Beth: Lol I’ll take that as another compliment ;)_ _  
__Beth: Wanna play a game?_

He paused, hesitating for no more than a split-second.

 _Daryl: A game??_ _  
__Daryl: Don’t you need to be getting to sleep_ _  
__Daryl: For CHURCH_

 _Beth: Lmao don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine_ _  
__Beth: Don’t YOU have something you should be getting rest for?_

_Daryl: Nope._

_Beth: Then it’s settled!_ _  
__Beth: Truth or Dare :)_

_Daryl: Huh?_

_Beth: Pick one! Truth or Dare?_

_Daryl: Lol what are you 12_

_Beth: Definitely not :P_ _  
__Beth: Don’t worry, I’m not gonna dare you to lick the toilet or anything lmao_ _  
__Beth: Just play along! Truth or Dare? :D_

She’d already sucked him in. There was no point in trying to resist now. He was way too weak to fight his own perverse curiosity.

 _Daryl: Jesus_ _  
__Daryl: Idk_ _  
__Daryl: Truth_

 _Beth: Good choice :)_ _  
__Beth: Okay. Truth… Do you sleep naked?_

 _Daryl: Lmao_ _  
__Daryl: Yeah why_

 _Beth: Lol that’s not how the game is played!_ _  
__Beth: It’s your turn now :)_

 _Daryl: Lol ok_ _  
__Daryl: Truth or dare_

_Beth: Ummmmmmmmmm_

She sent a string of emojis that looked like someone rubbing their chin in deep thought. He chuckled, shaking his head and gripping the phone a little tighter.

 _Beth: Truth… :)_ _  
__Beth: And make it good lmao_

He was starting to feel like an awkward goddamn teenager, his stomach all aflutter and his heart rabbiting in his chest while his dick twitched incessantly.

He knew he should really be putting the phone down. And even more than that, he should _really_ be discouraging Beth’s obvious advances.

Yet there was a small part of him that was currently making all the decisions for him—the part that couldn’t possibly comprehend a girl like _this_ ever desiring him in any way. The part that couldn’t unsee the newly matured Beth Greene. The part that kind of… _really…_ wanted to see where the hell this might be going.

He’d never been one for games. But for the first time in his life, he felt like he understood the rules for this particular game. So maybe he’d play along for a bit. It wasn’t like he was capable of denying the fact that he was secretly hoping for a little something more to come out of it.

 _Daryl: Ok_ _  
__Daryl: Truth…_ _  
__Daryl: You got a crush on me or something?_

She wasted no time sending her reply.

 _Beth: Ever since that day you fixed my car and let me wear your coat._ _  
__Beth: Glad you finally noticed :)_ _  
__Beth: My turn! Truth or Dare??_

Holy _shit_. Okay.

He barely had time to comprehend what she’d just admitted before he felt compelled to answer. And he didn’t want to risk an awkward lull in the conversation. 

_Daryl: Wait really??_ _  
__Daryl: Wtf why_

 _Beth: That’s not how the game works ;)_ _  
__Beth: Truth or Dare…?_

 _Daryl: Uh ok_ _  
__Daryl: Dare_

What the fuck was he doing. Could he still blame it on the alcohol?

_Beth: I guess you’re not as scared as I thought, huh lol_

_Daryl: Never. What do you got planned, Trouble?_

_Beth: I dare you…_ _  
__Beth: To send a pic of what’s underneath that blanket._

She followed up with a string of four smiling devil-faced emojis.

_Daryl: That’s not a dare_

_Beth: I didn’t dare you to argue…_

_Daryl: Why would you wanna see that_

_Beth: You’re not very good at following rules, are you_

She sent a rolling-eyes emoji.

_Daryl: Neither are you._

_Beth: I am when it matters :)_

_Daryl: Pervert_

_Beth: Rude_ _  
__Beth: You don’t have to play if you don’t want to lol_

 _Daryl: Didn’t say that._ _  
__Daryl: Just don’t wanna piss off your bf_

 _Beth: Lmao_ _  
__Beth: Then don’t_

_Daryl: How do I know you won’t screenshot it and tell on me ?_

_Beth: Lmfao you’re ridiculous_ _  
__Beth: Why would I be daring you if I wanted to start some drama_

_Daryl: Idk_

_Beth: It’ll stay just between us. Promise :)_ _  
__Beth: He’s barely my bf anyway._

 _Daryl: I don’t really care_ _  
__Daryl: Reckon I could take him_

_Beth: Omg what_

She accentuated her message with a short string of crying-laughing emojis.

 _Daryl: Just sayin_ _  
__Daryl: He looks like a pussy._ _  
__Daryl: No offense_

 _Beth: Lmfao_ _  
__Beth: None taken._ _  
__Beth: But if you’re worried I’m gonna tell Amy or something_ _  
__Beth: Don’t be_ _  
__Beth: That would be stupid lol I’m not that dumb_

 _Daryl: Didn’t think you were_ _  
__Daryl: Just can’t figure out why you’d wanna see that_

_Beth: Why not :)_

_Daryl: Don’t fucken laugh_

_Beth: I’m not laughing!_

_Daryl: I mean don’t laugh at the pic_

_Beth: Oh :D_ _  
__Beth: Trust me, I won’t._

He didn’t give himself a chance to decide against it. A moment later, he’d lifted the blanket and pulled it aside just enough to capture a poorly lit Snap of his bare bottom half—from stomach to feet with everything in between. Thankfully, his dick was mostly concealed by the shadows, though it was somewhat obvious that it was semi-hard. He set the timer on the Snap to 3 seconds and added a very brief caption: _Hope you’re happy_

At the last second, he changed the timer to 4 seconds. Then he hit Send and watched it disappear.

Fucking _shit_ , he shouldn’t have done that. Oh God. What the _fuck_ was he thinking? Christ almighty, he’d be paying for this. There was no way this would turn out well.

He watched the Snap change to Opened. His heart skipped. Five seconds later, it switched to Replayed. His heart thumped and sped up. Blood rushed down between his legs and stayed there.

Holy fuck.

Beth was _Typing…_ for no longer than ten seconds.

 _Beth: :O_ _  
__Beth: :)_ _  
__Beth: :D !!_

 _Daryl: My turn, weirdo._ _  
__Daryl: Truth or dare_

 _Beth: Lmao_ _  
__Beth: Dare…_

 _Daryl: Well then_ _  
__Daryl: Right back at ya_

_Beth: Lol what?_

_Daryl: I’m giving you the same dare you gave me_

_Beth: Ohhhh. Okay ;)_ _  
__Beth: No screenshots please_

 _Daryl: I would never._ _  
__Daryl: Go on then princess. If you ain’t so scared yourself_

_Beth: I’m not scared :)_

True to her word, a new Snap popped up a moment later. Daryl eagerly tapped on it and nearly sputtered aloud.

She’d timed it for only 5 seconds, but that was all he needed to take in the curves of her bare hips, the red fabric of her tiny panties, the expanse of taut abdomen muscles. The photo disappeared and he immediately tapped Replay. He admired the dimly lit valley dip of her tummy, the hill that rose up and led into whatever lay beneath red cotton. Those slender legs that seemed to go on for days. And at the very bottom of the frame, the slightest hint of soft and milky skin that preceded the underside curve of her breasts.

Her caption was placed directly across the center of the image: _How’s this for a princess ;P_

His free hand had drifted down to cup his growing bulge beneath the blanket on its own accord. His dick was getting harder and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He wished he’d thought to screenshot that picture. Jesus fucking _Christ_.

His hand was trembling as he tapped a response into the chat bar.

 _Daryl: Good lord_ _  
__Daryl: You trying to kill me girl?_

She sent back a string of smiling emojis surrounded by hearts—with a single winky face emoji at the end.

_Beth: Truth or Dare? :)_

Daryl was filled with reckless abandon. All he could think about was those goddamn red panties.

_Daryl: Dare_

_Beth: Oh my.._ _  
__Beth: You must be feeling brave tonight ;)_

 _Daryl: Maybe_ _  
__Daryl: What kinda trouble you got cooking up next_

 _Beth: I dare you…_ _  
__Beth: …wait for it…_

_Daryl: …_

_Beth: :)_ _  
__Beth: I dare you to_ _  
__Beth: Um_ _  
__Beth: Touch it_

_Daryl: Touch what?_

Her only response was an eggplant emoji.

_Daryl: You serious ??_

_Beth: :)_

_Daryl: Why…_

_Beth: You’re the one who picked Dare._

_Daryl: How would you even know I really did it_

_Beth: Lmao_ _  
__Beth: Photo evidence. Duh._ _  
__Beth: Would you rather pick Truth? Lol_

 _Daryl: No_ _  
__Daryl: But if you wanted a dick pic, all you had to do was ask._

_Beth: I didn’t wanna be a pervert :)_

_Daryl: Lol_ _  
__Daryl: Whatever_ _  
__Daryl: No screenshots…_

_Beth: Of course not !_

He took a deep breath and tried not to think about how fucking _weird_ this was. At the same time, it was kinda… _hot_. He’d never had this much fun exchanging photos with someone before. Or blatantly flirting over text. Every once in a while, Andrea would send a topless pic and a message like “I miss you” or “thinking about you” or something. He might’ve sent her two naked selfies throughout the entire duration of their relationship. But their text exchanges had never even gotten close to being _this_ heated.

Was this what the kids were doing these days? If so, he could certainly see why it was so damn popular.

His dick was already hard when he pulled the blanket away and wrapped one hand around the shaft. His abdomen tensed with anticipation and he chewed on his lower lip, staring down at his own hand gripping his swollen cock through the camera of his phone. He turned the Flash on and tried to capture a somewhat flattering angle, though he wasn’t sure that was possible. But she’d asked for it, so he had to deliver.

He left the timer set to 4 seconds and didn’t bother to add a caption. Then he tapped Send.

He didn’t breathe until he saw the Snap change to Opened. And when it was Replayed, he gasped in sharply. 

He was already starting to regret his decision when he saw the _Typing…_ animation pop up.

_Beth: Ummm_

She followed up with at least ten squirting water emojis. 

Was that a good thing? _God_ , he hoped so.

He tentatively typed out a response.

_Daryl: You asked for it_

_Beth: Yes I did :)_

_Daryl: My turn_

_Beth: Lol_ _  
__Beth: Truth_

_Daryl: Switching it up, huh_

_Beth: That’s what I do best ;)_

_Daryl: Lol_ _  
__Daryl: Ok well…_ _  
__Daryl: Are you touching yourself too?_

 _Beth: Yes._ _  
__Beth: Truth or Dare?_

Holy shit.

_Daryl: Truth._

_Beth: What are you thinking about right now?_

_Daryl: What kind of question is that_

_Beth: Just tell the truth :)_

_Daryl: Pretty obvious what I’m thinking about_

_Beth: Not obvious enough_

_Daryl: You_

_Beth: Me?_

_Daryl: Yeah_

_Beth: What about me? :)_

_Daryl: That’s what I’m thinking about_

_Beth: So just me in general ?_

_Daryl: Kinda_ _  
__Daryl: Mostly those red panties._

There— _fuck_. He’d said it. There was no going back now. He’d fucking admitted it. And he couldn’t backpedal on this one.

 _Beth: Oh ;)_ _  
__Beth: What else…?_

 _Daryl: I don’t think that’s how the game works_ _  
__Daryl: Isn’t it my turn now_

 _Beth: Lol fair enough_ _  
__Beth: Take your turn then_

_Daryl: Truth or dare?_

_Beth: Dare._

He hadn’t expected that. He’d been prepared to ask her what _she_ was thinking about, hoping for an explicit detail or two. But if that’s how she was gonna play, then… 

_Daryl: Ok_ _  
__Daryl: Dare you to send another pic_

_Beth: Lol of what?_

_Daryl: Touching yourself_

_Beth: Are you gonna accuse me of trying to kill you again? lmao_

_Daryl: Maybe_ _  
__Daryl: At least I won’t die mad_

_Beth: Good point ;)_

Based on how quickly the little pink square appeared below her name, she hadn’t wasted any time hesitating to fulfill the stipulations of the game.

With a racing pulse, Daryl tapped on the square and watched wide-eyed as the photo filled his screen from edge to edge.

There was no caption. She’d turned the Flash on and illuminated her sun-tanned skin with artificial light, camera angled downward from the same perspective as her previous picture. Daryl admired the same valleys and hills of flesh, but his focus was drawn towards the center of the screen. She had one hand slipped beneath her red cotton panties, fingers hidden and a shadow concealing everything past the clean-shaven mound. He thought he might’ve spotted the very top of a crease peeking out, but then the Snap timed out and disappeared.

He tapped Replay without question. He stared down at the photo even more intently than before, absent-mindedly licking his lips. His other hand was still wrapped loosely around his cock and he gave it a reflexive squeeze. 

With the chat screen displayed before him almost expectantly, he typed out a response. He hoped he hadn’t made her wait too long—he didn’t want her to think that photo was unwanted. Or disliked.

But he also didn’t want to sound too desperate. Or horny. He couldn’t risk scaring her off after seeing all of _that_.

_Daryl: Jesus Christ girl_

_Beth: Lmao_ _  
__Beth: Sorry ?_

 _Daryl: Don’t be._ _  
__Daryl: Good thing I don’t have a blood pressure problem_ _  
__Daryl: Tho I think I might have one now_

 _Beth: Hahahaha_ _  
__Beth: Didn’t mean to send you into cardiac arrest, Old Timer ;)_

 _Daryl: Stfu_ _  
__Daryl: If I was any younger, I’d be hyperventilating_

 _Beth: Lmfao yeah right_ _  
__Beth: It’s my turn btw :)_

 _Daryl: Right._ _  
__Daryl: Ok then go_

 _Beth: Truth or dare?_ _  
__Beth: Or Pacemaker? ;P_

 _Daryl: Ha ha. Very funny._ _  
__Daryl: Truth_

 _Beth: Hmm good choice_ _  
__Beth: Let’s see…_

_Daryl: You sure like to play coy_

_Beth: And dumb, apparently :)_

_Daryl: Lol ok smartass_

_Beth: Just agreeing with your keen observations ;)_

_Daryl: Yeah sure_ _  
__Daryl: What “truth” are you gonna ask for this time?_

 _Beth: Well :)_ _  
__Beth: How about…_

The _Typing…_ animation disappeared momentarily and Daryl’s heart skipped. His entire body was tense with anticipation.

_Daryl: Don’t go leaving me hanging now lol_

The _Typing…_ animation popped back up and she quickly replied.

 _Beth: Of course not :)_ _  
__Beth: Just trying to think of a good question_

_Daryl: Doesn’t have to be that good_

_Beth: Yes it does! Lol_ _  
__Beth: Okay. Ready…?_

_Daryl: Any day now Greene_

_Beth: Alright, Dixon :)_ _  
__Beth: The truth ONLY_

_Daryl: Obviously_

_Beth: Do you wanna fuck me?_

Daryl blinked. And blinked again. He rubbed his eyes and stared down at the screen.

Okay, so he wasn’t stroking out. She’d _actually_ asked that. But how the hell was he supposed to answer? Why did she need an answer anyway?

Wasn’t it obvious?

_Daryl: Pardon??_

_Beth: Are you dyslexic_

_Daryl: Psh no_ _  
__Daryl: But why would you ask that_

 _Beth: Just play the damn game and tell the truth_ _  
__Beth: Unless you’re too scared :)_

 _Daryl: …_ _  
__Daryl: Yes._

_Beth: You’re admitting you’re too scared?? Lol_

_Daryl: No_ _  
__Daryl: That was my answer._ _  
__Daryl: My turn now_

 _Beth: Oh_ _  
__Beth: :)_

_Daryl: Truth or dare_

_Beth: …_ _  
__Beth: ……._

_Daryl: Dramatic_

_Beth: I like to add an air of mystery ;)_

_Daryl: Just pick one dork_

_Beth: Lol_  
 _Beth: Okay then_ _  
Beth: Dare_

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t hoping for that exact choice. His dick tingled with excitement, begging to be touched. But he resisted for a moment. He held his breath and typed out a response.

_Daryl: Dare you to quit playing this game and tell me what you really want._

There. He’d said it. But he still couldn’t exhale until he saw the _Typing…_ animation appear.

_Beth: What I really want?_

_Daryl: Yup_

She wasn’t typing this time. He tensed and waited. But several seconds passed and she still hadn’t replied.

 _Fuck_. He’d fucked it up. He should’ve just played along and dared her to send another picture or something. Goddammit. Why did he have to be so fucking impatient?

His heart nearly leapt out of his chest when her name popped up. But it wasn’t a chat message.

He tapped on the pink square. A shiver ran down his whole body, stiffening his cock. His half-hard erection immediately went to full-mast.

For ten whole glorious seconds, a picture of Beth from red panties up to pink mouth filled the screen of his phone. The blanket was gone. She was biting down on her lower lip, one arm barely covering her nipples while the rest of her torso was left exposed for the camera.

The caption was the part that nearly sent him into full-on cardiac arrest:

_I really want to sit on your face._

This girl was gonna be the goddamn death of him. And all Daryl could think about was dying _very_ fucking happy.

**to be continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beth is clearly having her Hot Girl Summer...


	3. send nudes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl's thinking, what the hell would this beautiful girl want with a dick pic from some guy twice her age?  
> And Beth must surely be thinking, how can I give Daryl Dixon a lifetime of arrhythmia in one night?

**send nudes**

There was a stupid motto Daryl had seen a few times on internet memes and in Carl’s and Tara’s goofy Instagram captions: “lost in the sauce.” Despite Tara’s best efforts to explain the new slang term, he still wasn’t quite sure what it meant.

But right now, with one hand clutching his phone close to his face and the other hand wrapped around his throbbing cock, he thought he had a pretty good idea of the feeling it was meant to portray. Because if he wasn’t absolutely _lost in the fucking sauce_ , then there was no other good explanation for the photo he sent to Beth next.

He resisted the strong temptation to screenshot her tantalizing picture and tapped Reply instead. He sent a Snap of his face—from just below his eyes down to his prominent adam’s apple. And as soon as he typed in the caption, he hit Send:

_That’s all you want? Plenty of room here. Best warn you I always go for a second helping._

He watched his Snap switch from Opened to Replayed. A short moment later, another pink square popped up. He eagerly tapped it.

The photo that filled his screen wasn’t much different than the last, but it jolted Daryl with a fresh wave of arousal all the same. Beth’s torso was still bare, red panties still intact, and her arm was still covering her nipples. But her fingers were spread just the slightest bit this time, allowing a tiny peek of one single pink areola. The same color as her lips, he noticed. Which were parted, as though she were mid-moan.

Her caption read: _Maybe I want it all…_

She’d added three tongue emojis and a single squirting water emoji. Something at the very pit of Daryl’s gut stirred and his erection throbbed almost painfully.

Before he could hit Reply, she sent a chat message.

_Beth: Damn boy, what that mouth do_

Five more tongue emojis.

Daryl smirked to himself and typed into the chat bar.

 _Daryl: Lol_ _  
_ _Daryl: A lot_ _  
_ _Daryl: You trying to find out?_

_Beth: Definitely :)_

_Daryl: Like what_

_Beth: Everything…_ _  
_ _Beth: Send another pic ;)_

Good lord, this girl was… _forward_. Was this what it meant whenever he’d heard people refer to someone as “thirsty?”

Not that it was a bad thing. Christ. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been so turned on by some fucking _Snapchat_ pictures. And messages. And emojis. Maybe she was just as horny as he was. If that was possible. Or maybe it was infatuation—like she was living out her high school fantasies years after the fact. She _did_ say that she’d had a crush on him “ever since,” so maybe she _still_ had that crush.

This was well past a crush, though. If he wasn’t hallucinating or dreaming right now, he was certain that this could be considered something close to _begging_. But _why_? Why the fuck would this gorgeous little thing be thirsting after Daryl Dixon, of all people?

He decided not to think too deeply on that part. No point in ruining it just yet. Besides, what was the harm in playing along? Just for now. It wasn’t like she’d be home for much longer anyway. And they probably wouldn’t even see each other face-to-face before she headed back to college. So he’d never have to look her in the eye after all… _this_. 

And shit, he’d probably cut off his own left foot for another photo of her perfect body.

Yeah, he was a pervert alright. But that was the _least_ of his worries while he lay in bed, surrounded by the darkness of his bedroom and staring down at the phone clasped in his hand.

Daryl hesitated, his confidence lacking.

_Daryl: Of what_

_Beth: Surprise me ;)_

_Daryl: Why_ _  
_ _Daryl: You gonna use it or something?_

 _Beth: Well_ _  
_ _Beth: Yeah. lmao_ _  
_ _Beth: What else would I want it for…_

_Daryl: What do you wanna see_

_Beth: Whatever you wanna show me_ _  
_ _Beth: :)_

_Daryl: You gonna send one back ?_

_Beth: Lol_ _  
_ _Beth: If you want me to_

_Daryl: I do._

_Beth: Then it’s a deal :)_

Well, who was he to say no? He’d already sent one dick pic. One more wouldn’t hurt. Especially if it meant receiving another photo of Beth in return.

He decided to switch it up this time and opened the front camera, holding his phone out and turning his wrist at just the right angle. He captured a Flash-lit photo of his veiny, engorged cock grasped loosely in one hand, with his bare thighs and rigid abdomen filling the rest of the frame. Before he had a chance to inspect it too closely and second-guess himself, he added a caption: _This what you want?_

Then he hit Send.

He’d left the timer to 10 seconds, so it felt like an eternity between the time the Snap was Opened and when it was Replayed. His heart skipped and his dick twitched in his hand. He swallowed hard. A new pink square appeared in the chat window and he tapped on it with an unsteady thumb.

Beth’s petite frame occupied his screen once again, from the same angle as her last two Snaps. But she’d finally moved her arm away and rested it just beneath the discreet underside curve of her breasts. Daryl stared, slack-jawed, and took in the image, lingering on her small pink nipples and the perfect shape of her tits. His hand reflexively squeezed his cock and his wrist gave a brief up-and-down flick.

Her caption read: _Yep :)_

As soon as he finished staring at the photo for the second time, a new message popped up.

 _Beth: Is that because you’re thinking about me?_ _  
_ _Beth: ;)_

 _Daryl: What else would it be_ _  
_ _Daryl: You keep sending pics like that_ _  
_ _Daryl: Can’t really think about nothing else_

He watched as _Typing…_ appeared and then disappeared. He waited anxiously, loosening his grip on his throbbing cock.

But instead of a chat, a pink square popped up. He opened another photo.

She’d lowered the angle of the camera and captured everything from her navel to her slightly-bent knees. Her free hand was resting over her hip, dainty fingers pinching the fabric of her red panties. She’d slipped them down just enough to reveal half of her smooth mound and the very top of the crease that ran down the center, as well as the indention of skin that separated her groin from her thigh.

Christ almighty. Daryl was breathing heavily and he hadn’t even noticed. He tapped Replay as soon as the Snap timed out, practically drooling over the teasing of bare flesh. 

At the last second, he read her caption: _Think I can get you off like this? ;)_

She’d added two emojis at the end—an eggplant and squirting water.

He Snapped a photo of his hard cock grasped in his hand, well aware of the glistening precome at the tip. He hastily typed in a caption that said, “ _Wouldn’t say no to giving it a try._ ”

She Opened his Snap. Then she Replayed it. A short eternity later, she was _Typing…_

_Beth: Screenshot this next one :)_

Daryl didn’t even have a chance to finish typing “what” before a new pink square appeared. He erased the _wh_ from his chat bar and opened her picture, quickly abandoning his dick and bringing his other hand up. He positioned his fingers and prepared to take a screenshot.

She’d _told_ him to do it, after all.

And thank fucking _God_ she did. Holy _shit_.

He had plenty of time, seeing as she’d allowed it to be 10 seconds long. But he had to consciously remind himself to press the damn buttons because he was staring so fucking intently. His screen flashed and lit up for a split-second, then the screenshot appeared in the bottom left corner and faded away. Right after that, the Snap timed out.

He immediately hit Replay.

Beth had slipped her panties down until they were stretched across her upper thighs, and her free hand was settled over the soft mound above her clit. Her index and ring fingers were situated on each lip, holding them just slightly apart, while her middle finger rested atop the hood that barely concealed her swollen clit. All Daryl could comprehend was sun-tanned white skin and bright pink labia. His cock pulsed with desire and his breaths came in short gasps.

Her chat popped up almost as soon as her Snap disappeared for the last time.

_Beth: Is that good enough_

_Daryl: For what_

_Beth: To get you off lol_

_Daryl: Uh_ _  
_ _Daryl: Yeah_

_Beth: So do it :)_

_Daryl: What_

_Beth: Send a video…_ _  
_ _Beth: :)_

_Daryl: You wanna see me doing that?_

_Beth: Do you need another pic ;)_

_Daryl: Maybe_

He barely had to wait for the pink square to pop up once again. He tapped on it and reached down to wrap a hand around his cock. He didn’t bother trying to screenshot this one, though he probably should’ve.

Beth was in the same position, but one leg was slightly lifted and she’d spread her lips the tiniest bit wider. Her clit was pink and shiny in the Flash of the camera, and her black-lacquered fingers appeared to be teasing the area ever-so-gently.

Daryl wanted to run his tongue across every inch of the skin she was showing him. But he couldn’t do more than think about it. He didn’t even realize he’d begun reflexively stroking his aching cock until the Snap timed out and he was faced with an open chat screen once again. 

_Daryl: You really want a video ?_

_Beth: Yeah :)_ _  
_ _Beth: Is that so wrong? lol_

 _Daryl: Didn’t say that._ _  
_ _Daryl: Gimme a minute_

_Beth: Take your time ;)_

What the fuck was he doing… He couldn’t bear to ask himself more than once. He moved on instinct, acting on practically nonexistent inhibitions.

The next thing he knew, he was pressing and holding the Record button on a new Snap. And the camera was aimed directly downward, focused on his engorged cock gripped in his hand.

He slid his hand up and down the shaft a few times, ran his thumb over the bead of precome that had gathered atop the head. Then he gave a couple more strokes, choking back a groan. When his abdomen tensed in pleasure, he lifted his finger from the Record button. He pressed Send and held his breath, palm still clutching his cock. He gave it a squeeze and let a growled moan escape from the back of his throat, a shudder wracking his body at the thought of Beth watching him jerk off.

She Opened his video. And Replayed it.

Less than a minute later—a long and torturous forty-five seconds, during which he gave his aching erection a few more strokes—a purple square appeared under her name. He tapped on it and watched the video fill his screen, simultaneously pressing the Volume Up button with his thumb. Just in case.

Her video was shorter than the one he’d sent, but its content more than made up for its brevity. She’d angled the camera the same as her prior photos, with her hand situated in the same place, and recorded her middle finger teasing her clit. He could see the muscles in her abdomen flexing reactively as her finger made rapid circular motions and that little pink nub swelled just the slightest bit larger. Her legs widened and he got a brief view of the damp slit that went on past her labia, but then the Snap ended.

He tapped Replay and bit down hard on his lower lip. He watched closely, giving more focus to stroking his cock.

When the chat screen reappeared, he saw her newest message.

_Beth: I wanna see you cum_

Followed by three tongue emojis. 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Daryl couldn’t remember the last time he’d interacted with someone so… _blatantly_. Let alone a really fucking cute girl who seemed to be just as attracted to _him_ as he was to her.

He’d be lying if he tried to say it didn’t make his dick all that much harder.

He typed back hastily with one thumb.

_Daryl: Really ??_

_Beth: Really really :)_

He paused and glanced away from his phone for a moment. He nudged Dog with his foot.

If this was gonna go any farther, he couldn’t have his dog sitting right next to him and seeing his shame. The canine lifted his head, ears perked up at attention, and looked at Daryl expectantly.

“Hey,” Daryl ordered in an authoritative voice. “Me time. Get down. _Me time_.”

Dog growled unhappily but didn’t hesitate to obey the familiar command. He turned and hopped down off the bed, slinking over to his extra-large dog bed in the corner of the room. He curled up and shot Daryl a loathing glare before shutting his eyes and going back to sleep.

“Good dog,” Daryl muttered before turning his attention back to the phone in his hand—and the erection between his legs.

He typed out a response. 

_Daryl: Might be a minute_

That was a lie. One more look at that Snap he’d screenshotted and maybe half a dozen more strokes of his cock from the just the right angle, and he’d be busting all over the place. The heat was already gathered precariously below his gut, threatening to tip him over the edge at any moment. 

_Beth: Worth the wait ;)_

Goddamn.

His dick twitched in his hand and he quickly exited Snapchat. He opened up his Photos and tapped on the screenshot of Beth touching herself.

His teeth dug into his bottom lip and his hand tightened around his throbbing cock.

He stroked himself slowly at first, rapidly building up speed while his eyes remained glued to the phone in his other hand. He imagined running his tongue through the pink folds that he could see in her photo, and wrapping his lips around the swollen nub beneath her fingertip. He reckoned she probably tasted sweet as fucking honey—he let out a strangled grunt and tightened his grip on his cock. He was already getting close.

He stared at the photo for a few moments longer, lingering on her satin soft skin and her jutting hip bones and the tempting creases between her legs. He picked up speed, squeezing and stroking his shaft, intermittently pressing the pad of his thumb against the damp, swollen head. He paused for no more than a second—just long enough to reach over and pump a dollop of lotion into his palm from the bottle sitting on his nightstand—before he was eagerly back at it. The lubrication definitely helped. He ended up swallowing down more groans of pleasure, squeezing his eyes shut and picturing Beth’s naked form in the backs of his eyelids.

When he felt that familiar heat building and mounting to the point of explosion, he managed to gather enough sense and slow his feverish strokes. With his other hand, he exited the screenshot of Beth and opened Snapchat back up. He tapped on their conversation and then on Reply, which opened the phone’s camera. His purplish-pink cock was already in frame, and when he pressed the Record button, the Flash came on and cast a glistening glow over the veins and precome-mixed-with-lotion sheen of his erection.

He repositioned the camera until his hand around his dick was center stage and proceeded to continue what he’d started. Within seconds, he’d nearly forgotten that he was recording. That tantalizing image of Beth was all he could picture as his hand worked up and down his throbbing hard cock, shivers relentlessly running their course through his spine.

He thought of her unblemished skin. The flat expanse between breasts and hips. The succulent curve of her inner thighs. He let out a grunt and squeezed his cock, stroking faster and faster. He was nearly there.

Another mental flash of her perfect pink labia. The crease of her folds. The swell of her clit beneath a fleshy hood—and one more glance at the phone before him, the view of his own self-pleasure.

Very briefly, he thought about Beth watching this exact video and touching herself in the darkness of her bedroom.

And that was all he needed. With a slight buck of his hips and a choked sound of pleasure, his hand froze around the shaft of his cock and he gave in to his orgasm. The purple head pulsated and spewed out a thick ribbon of come, coating Daryl’s fingers and spilling onto his upper thighs.

He exhaled and stopped recording, aftershocks still reverberating through his muscles. Without a second thought, he hit Send.

Beth viewed it almost immediately. And Replayed it.

Daryl was slowly pulling his phone away and gazing down at the mess in his other hand, breathing heavily and watching as his erection gradually wilted. A new message arrived and demanded his attention.

 _Beth: Ummm_ _  
_ _Beth: Good._ _  
_ _Beth: Lord._

She added four heart eyes emojis.

 _Daryl: Sorry_ _  
_ _Daryl: More than you wanted?_

 _Beth: Not at all :)_ _  
_ _Beth: Exactly what I hoped for…_

Her next message was a string of three squirting water emojis and two tongue emojis.

_Daryl: Really ?_

_Beth: Uh YES_ _  
_ _Beth: What were you thinking about? :)_

 _Daryl: Your pic_ _  
_ _Daryl: Obviously._

 _Beth: So_ _  
_ _Beth: You wanna see more…?_

Christ. Was this some kind of trap?

_Daryl: What kinda question is that_

_Beth: Idk :)_ _  
_ _Beth: I mean_ _  
_ _Beth: You already came…_

 _Daryl: Yeah_ _  
_ _Daryl: But you’re still gonna be a cock tease._ _  
_ _Daryl: So I won’t say no_

_Beth: Excuse me??_

_Daryl: You can’t read now?_

_Beth: Lmao how am I a cock tease??_

_Daryl: How are you not_

_Beth: I definitely invited you to come try out my bed…_ _  
_ _Beth: Or did you already forget?_ _  
_ _Beth: Old man ;)_

 _Daryl: Sure didn’t forget._ _  
_ _Daryl: But that wasn’t serious_ _  
_ _Daryl: …_ _  
_ _Daryl: Was it??_

 _Beth: I wouldn’t joke about that._ _  
_ _Beth: ;)_

God _fucking_ dammit. How the hell was he supposed to have known? Was there time to take a rain check?

_Daryl: Still a tease_

_Beth: Lol_ _  
_ _Beth: If you say so_

He began typing out a response, but then a purple square popped up and caused him to halt.

A video…?

He tapped on it and watched the Snap occupy his phone screen.

It was only 8 seconds, but every single one of those glorious seconds was filled with a generous view of Beth’s lower lips. She’d shoved her panties down another inch or two and angled the camera just a bit farther south, until her hairless mound was the center focus. She had two fingertips working vigorously on her clit, stimulating the swollen nub until her thighs were visibly clenching and her arm was tensing. With the volume all the way up, Daryl was able to make out a soft moan eliciting from somewhere behind the camera.

His cock twitched and his hand gave the shaft a reflexive squeeze. He didn’t think it possible, but he was getting hard again.

This girl was dangerous.

He hit Replay and watched again, eyes wide.

 _Daryl: Like I said_ _  
_ _Daryl: Cock tease._

 _Beth: Maybe_ _  
_ _Beth: But I’m thinking about you ;)_

_Daryl: So?_

_Beth: So it’s your cock I’m teasing lol_ _  
_ _Beth: And so_ _  
_ _Beth: Maybe you should do something about it…_

 _Daryl: Huh?_ _  
_ _Daryl: You really want me to fuck you?_

 _Beth: No._ _  
_ _Beth: I_ _  
_ _Beth: want to fuck_ _  
_ _Beth: YOU._ _  
_ _Beth: :)_

_Daryl: Excuse me_

Her response was a photo rather than a message. He tapped on the pink square and watched it fill his screen.

She’d angled the camera down between her legs, giving him a very clear view of her most sensual area. Her hand was still resting at the top, middle finger tantalizingly lingering over her clit. Her legs were spread wider and he could see the darker red flesh between her labia—and the very obvious slit of her damp entrance.

The caption read: _Still think I’m a cock tease? ;)_

He didn’t want to appear redundant and send back a photo of his come-covered cock. So he typed into the chat bar instead.

 _Daryl: Without a doubt._ _  
_ _Daryl: Christ_ _  
_ _Daryl: You’re trouble all around girl_

 _Beth: I’ll take that as a compliment_ _  
_ _Beth: So thank you, Mr. Dixon ;)_

 _Daryl: Sure thing._ _  
_ _Daryl: You gonna follow up on your word_ _  
_ _Daryl: Or nah ?_

 _Beth: I planned on it :)_ _  
_ _Beth: If that’s what you want…_

 _Daryl: Killing me with the teasing._ _  
_ _Daryl: Course that’s what I want._ _  
_ _Daryl: Thought we were past playing dumb_

 _Beth: Lol_ _  
_ _Beth: So you wanna hang out before I leave? ;)_

So much for not having to worry about ever looking her in the eye again after this. But he’d have to be a complete fucking moron to say no.

 _Daryl: Yeah_ _  
_ _Daryl: If you can fit me into your schedule._

 _Beth: Of course :)_ _  
_ _Beth: I can fit you in no problem…_

_Daryl: You sure?_

_Beth: Very._ _  
_ _Beth: What are you so scared of? ;)_ _  
_ _Beth: You think I’m gonna tell Amy?_

 _Daryl: No_ _  
_ _Daryl: Just wondering why you’d wanna fuck me._

_Beth: …_

_Daryl: If we’re being honest._

_Beth: Lol_ _  
_ _Beth: You’re cute :)_

He was expecting a follow-up message, maybe even another string of emojis. Instead, a pink square appeared. He tapped on it.

The photo was angled the same as what she’d previously sent, but her hand was resituated. Her middle finger was still pressing down on her swollen clit, but her index and ring fingers had slid down through the folds of her labia. She was showing him just a bit more than last time, though in the most discreet way possible. The very tip of her index finger was teasing her entrance, like she may be about to slip it inside. The caption was nothing more than five squirting water emojis—and a single eggplant emoji.

The Snap timed out and he hit Replay. His spent cock twitched against his palm. 

He typed out a rushed response, then set his phone down and hopped out of bed just long enough to clean the mess he’d made.

 _Daryl: There you go teasing again._ _  
_ _Daryl: Big trouble_

He returned to his spot in bed, throwing the blanket over his legs and snatching up his phone, to see a new message from Beth had arrived.

 _Beth: Lol_ _  
_ _Beth: You don’t like it?_

 _Daryl: Didn’t say that_ _  
_ _Daryl: At all._

 _Beth: ;)_ _  
_ _Beth: We should probably go to sleep tho_ _  
_ _Beth: Like for real lol_ _  
_ _Beth: Even though I could stay up all night doing this :)_

 _Daryl: Yeah_ _  
_ _Daryl: Guess so_

 _Beth: I could text you tomorrow…_ _  
_ _Beth: If you want._

 _Daryl: Ok_ _  
_ _Daryl: Sounds good_

_Beth: Lol are you gonna flake on me_

_Daryl: What you mean?_

_Beth: Like when it comes to actually hanging out_ _  
_ _Beth: Are you gonna ghost lol_

_Daryl: Hell no_

_Beth: Lol okay :)_ _  
_ _Beth: I believe you_

_Daryl: Why would I lie?_

_Beth: Idk lmao_ _  
_ _Beth: But I have to be up for church in 3 hours so…_ _  
_ _Beth: I guess I should say goodnight :)_

 _Daryl: Me too._ _  
_ _Daryl: Night Greene_

_Beth: Talk to you soon ;)_

_Daryl: Promise_ _  
_ _Daryl: ?_

 _Beth: Promise :)_ _  
_ _Beth: Goodnight, Daryl_

She added a kissy face emoji and then her Online status disappeared. He didn’t exit the app for a few moments, scrolling back up and reading over her last dozen messages. 

He tried not to think too hard on that kissy face emoji as he placed his phone face-down on the nightstand and rolled over.

**to be continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this super OOC?? I don't even care anymore. I'm having too much fun to stop now.  
> #lostinthesauce


	4. (you drive me) crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl doesn't post shit to social media for the sole purpose of hoping that one specific person will see it. Or that they'll feel inclined to reply to it. And he's pretty sure Beth doesn't do that, either.  
> People don't actually _do_ that, do they?  
> It's all just coincidence... Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most photos/memes mentioned in this fic can be viewed in the [risk it all pinterest board](https://www.pinterest.com/squishycool/risk-it-all/).

  
[alternative cover photo courtesy of [@Courtneyshortney82](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Courtneyshortney82/pseuds/Courtneyshortney82)]  
  


**(you drive me) crazy**

Daryl only slept for a few hours. He woke up to find himself completely sober. Bright morning sunlight filled his bedroom. And the first thing that popped into his head was Beth.

What the hell had he been _thinking_? Swapping photos and videos like that with a girl half his age? And a Greene, no less.

If anybody caught wind of their naughty little messages, he’d be in for the ass-whooping of his life. Not just from his girlfriend, either. Hershel, Maggie, and Shawn Greene would all be out for his head. Rick would probably be pretty pissed, too. Carol would be appalled. Merle wouldn’t really care—he’d most likely just laugh and tease Daryl relentlessly for the next several years about it.

But he wouldn’t step in to defend his baby brother in a case like this; he’d tell Daryl to be ready to fight if he was gonna go sticking his dick into every pretty little thing that sent him a winky face over Instagram.

 _“If yer gonna be dumb, ya better be tough,"_ Merle’s voice echoed at the back of Daryl’s head.

Fuck.

It was fine. No, really. It was fine.

This was _fine_.

He believed Beth when she said she wouldn’t tell anyone. She had almost as much to lose as he did. 

Not really.

But that was fine. It’d all be fine.

He just… wouldn’t text her again.

Even though he’d promised not to “ghost.”

That didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she’d been serious. There was no way she _actually_ wanted to fuck him. He was probably just a way to pass time. Because she was bored. Girls her age did that all the time with no real intentions of taking it any farther.

Right?

As if to assure himself it hadn’t been a dream, Daryl reached over and grabbed his phone. He unlocked it and opened his Photos… and there it was.

The Snap he’d screenshotted. Beth Greene, bared in all her glory. Right there on his phone screen. Unquestionably real.

He cock twitched to life and he quickly exited, navigating back to Instagram. He went straight to his DMs and found their conversation, just as it had been left.

Christ, what the _fuck_ was he doing? Besides thinking with his dick?

For a moment, all he could think about was how furious Andrea would be; how disappointed and probably disgusted Rick would be; how easily Hershel Greene could string Daryl up by his balls without so much as a second glance from anyone else in town.

Then he exited his DMs and a familiar face within a pink-bordered circle caught his eye: Beth had posted a new Story.

He tapped it and a photo from less than an hour ago filled the screen for all of five seconds. There was no caption. She was dressed for church: tight white jeans and a black top, barely an inch of midriff exposed, and high-heeled black boots. It looked like Maggie had taken the picture because Beth was posing amidst a closet full of clothes and smiling, bright blonde hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, one knee bent and her body turned to the side.

As soon as Daryl saw the way that the curve of her ass filled out every inch of those damn jeans, any thoughts of repercussions or consequences fled his mind.

He didn’t even care anymore. He was ready to risk it _all_ for Beth Greene.

* * *

While he was in the shower (jerking himself off to the memory of all the Snaps Beth had sent), Andrea texted him. He didn’t check his phone until after he’d finished drying off and getting dressed.

_I’m heading home early. Call you tonight. xoxo_

He shrugged to himself and texted back, “ _Ok drive safe xoxo_.” He couldn’t even say he was upset. If anything, he felt a little relieved. At least he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about facing her again until next weekend.

He busied himself with cleaning the house and catching up on laundry until lunch time, with plenty of coffee and smoke breaks in between, as well as a lot of walks for Dog. He was enjoying the peace and quiet for once, considering his weekends were usually spent trying to keep Andrea happy or Merle out of jail. But everyone had learned to leave him alone on the weekends after the last several months, so that meant he wasn’t being pestered by anyone. Not even his obnoxious brother. 

It was nice at first. Then he ate lunch alone and finished all the laundry and found himself bored. Nothing to do, nowhere to go. He didn’t have work until the next morning. 

Daryl wound up sitting out on the porch with a cigarette and watching Dog run around, snapping at birds and chasing squirrels. It was hot and humid out, as was typical for July in Georgia, but he’d never really minded it. He kicked his feet up on the porch railing and pulled out his phone, scrolling through social media half-heartedly.

He wasn’t planning on interacting with anyone. He just wanted something to keep his hands busy.

Then he saw that Beth had posted a new Story to her Instagram. He tapped the little circle and watched a photo from 2 hours ago fill his screen.

It was Beth and that boyfriend of hers standing in front of a truck. She was wearing different clothes from her church outfit—a short, sleeveless black sundress decorated with white and pink floral print. Her sun-tanned legs were stretched out long and lean, and she was on tiptoes to plant a kiss on Zach’s cheek with her arms wrapped around his middle. He was dressed in a typical college guy outfit: old Chucks and jeans and a black T-shirt with a skateboarding logo on the front. He had one arm snugly wrapped around Beth’s slender waist. She’d tagged his screenname off to the side and added a caption that read: _Saying bye to my babe for now_ with a crying face emoji and a red heart emoji. 

Daryl suppressed a scoff and tapped to the next photo in her Story. It was a picture from an hour ago of a picnic table spread out with all kinds of lunch food. She’d added two drooling face emojis in the corner. Seconds later, her Story disappeared and sent him on to the next person’s.

He tapped through looping videos and various photos from Carl, Ezekiel, Tara, and Shane. Even Merle had posted something, though it was timestamped from very early that morning and too blurry to make out. It looked like it could’ve been the inside of a bar, but Daryl wasn’t sure. He watched a few more Stories, tapping past the photos and videos that didn’t interest him in the slightest.

On a whim, he selected his own Story and opened up his camera. He aimed it out at Dog, who was currently basking in the afternoon sun, all sprawled out in the grass a few feet away from the porch. Daryl captured the photo with the German Shepherd center frame and typed in a caption: _Lazy Sunday_. Then he posted it.

He scrolled through other people’s pictures for a bit, eventually wandering over to Snapchat and seeing if he’d missed anything. There were no updates from Beth over there, though there was a video on Carl’s Story of Judith dancing to a rap song. Daryl smirked and replayed the video, chuckling softly to himself. 

His cigarette had burnt out and he took this opportunity to get up and take a piss, leaving his phone sitting in the chair. When he returned with an empty bladder and a fresh cup of coffee, Dog hadn’t budged from his spot in the sun. But there was a new notification waiting for Daryl on his phone screen.

_greene.with.envy replied to your Story!_

He opened Instagram and found a new message from Beth in their conversation box, right underneath the Story of Dog he’d just posted five minutes ago. It was a puppy emoji followed by three red heart emojis.

Daryl didn’t know how to reply, so he didn’t. He pressed Like on her Reply and exited their chat window.

As soon as he returned to his Instagram Feed, he saw that Beth’s Story had been updated. Without hesitation, he tapped on it.

This one had been posted 2 minutes ago, and it was all Beth. She’d taken a selfie sitting at a picnic table, blonde hair windblown and a near-empty glass of water in front of her. She was only visible from the chest up, but that was enough for Daryl to spot the familiar little mole between her breasts, his eyes squinting as he examined the expanse of bare skin that peeked out from the deep V-neck of her sundress.

 _Christ_ , he was pretty sure he could see the top of her bra.

She’d put a caption directly in the center of the photo: _It’s so hot_

Well, she’d responded to _his_ Story—that was the explanation he gave himself as he tapped the _Send a message…_ bar and typed in a comment.

_You’re hot_

He pressed Send before he could stop himself. The little bubble popped up and declared, _message sent!_

Daryl barely had time to exhale.

_greene.with.envy liked your reply to their Story!_

He blinked, trying to ignore the sudden rush of blood between his legs.

 _greene.with.envy: Why, thank you ;)_ _  
__greene.with.envy: You’re not so bad yourself, Mr. Dixon_ _  
__greene.with.envy: ;)_

He didn’t bother trying to resist. He opened their chat window back up and typed in a response.

_notthatdixon: Is that so?_

_greene.with.envy: Yep :)_

_notthatdixon: Liked your church clothes_ _  
__nothatdixon: But that dress looks even better._

She replied with a string of emojis surrounded by little hearts.

 _greene.with.envy: Lol thank you :)_ _  
__greene.with.envy: It really is hot af out here tho_

She followed up with a sweating emoji.

 _notthatdixon: Nah_ _  
__notthatdixon: It’s just you._

 _greene.with.envy: Lmao_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Behave, Dixon ;)_

_notthatdixon: Didn’t say nothing bad._

_greene.with.envy: I didn’t say you did :)_ _  
__greene.with.envy: What are you up to today?_

 _notthatdixon: Not shit._ _  
__notthatdixon: Chillin with Dog I guess_

_greene.with.envy: No plans with your gf?_

_notthatdixon: Lol no_ _  
__notthatdixon: Why_

 _greene.with.envy: Jw :)_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Think I might go swimming with Amy again later._

 _notthatdixon: Sounds fun_ _  
__notthatdixon: Then what_

_greene.with.envy: Lol what do you mean?_

_notthatdixon: Wyd after that?_

_greene.with.envy: Idk yet_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Why? :)_

_notthatdixon: Jw_

_greene.with.dixon: I saw your brother at the gas station this morning_

She followed up with three crying laughing face emojis. Daryl rolled his eyes and messaged back.

 _notthatdixon: I’m sorry._ _  
__notthatdixon: Think he was out all night again but Idk_ _  
__notthatdixon: Haven’t talked to him since yesterday_

 _greene.with.envy: Lol don’t be sorry_ _  
__greene.with.envy: It was funny_ _  
__greene.with.envy: He didn’t recognize me LMAO_

_notthatdixon: Uh oh_

_greene.with.envy: He tried to hit on me_

She added another string of crying laughing emojis.

 _greene.with.envy: Shawn wanted to kill him lmfao_ _  
__greene.with.envy: But he didn’t, obviously._

She sent a shrugging emoji.

 _notthatdixon: Sounds like Merle._ _  
__notthatdixon: Sorry you had to deal with him_

 _greene.with.envy: Not your fault lol_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Tbh it was just really funny_ _  
__greene.with.envy: I could tell he was drunk_

 _notthatdixon: Usually is._ _  
__notthatdixon: I would’ve kicked his ass if I was there_ _  
__notthatdixon: Your brother is too nice_

 _greene.with.envy: Aww_ _  
__greene.with.envy: You’re sweet_

She added a single kissy face emoji. Daryl hesitated, a flash of red panties and sun-tanned skin running through his head.

_notthatdixon: If you say so_

_greene.with.envy: And I do :)_ _  
__greene.with.envy: So you don’t have any urgent business to attend to tonight?_

 _notthatdixon: Besides feeding Dog_ _  
__notthatdixon: Nope._

 _greene.with.envy: Lol_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Then maybe we could hang out ?_

_notthatdixon: Tonight?_

Fuck. He hadn’t really expected that.

Was this girl actually following through? And _immediately_?

He wasn’t prepared for this. Oh, Christ. What if this was his only chance? He couldn’t say no without coming off like he was disinterested. But the thought of saying yes kinda fucking terrified him—what would they _do_? Meet up and… just start screwing? After those Snaps and all these messages. How would they even… _what_?!

Should he start chugging beers now?

Beth was _Typing…_ for a few seconds. Then she wasn’t. Then it popped up again and finally, her message arrived.

 _greene.with.envy: Yeah, tonight lol_ _  
__greene.with.envy: If you want_ _  
__greene.with.envy: If you don’t feel like it, that’s fine._ _  
__greene.with.envy: You probably have to work early tomorrow huh_

 _notthatdixon: It’s not that._ _  
__notthatdixon: I don’t need much sleep_ _  
__notthatdixon: But Idk what we’d do_

 _greene.with.envy: Lol_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Have a couple beers and catch up_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Just hang out ? :)_

_notthatdixon: Where_

_greene.with.envy: Wherever you want :P_

_notthatdixon: Was probably just gonna get lit on my porch with Dog._

_greene.with.envy: Sounds fun :)_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Is that an invitation? lol_

_notthatdixon: Maybe_

_greene.with.envy: Well I don’t wanna intrude_

_notthatdixon: You wouldn’t be._ _  
__notthatdixon: Ain’t no swimming hole over here tho_

 _greene.with.envy: That’s fine :)_ _  
__greene.with.envy: I’ll probably be all freshly showered anyway lmao so I’m not gonna be trying to get my hair wet again_

_notthatdixon: Oh yeah?_

_greene.with.envy: Lol yeah_

Daryl stopped mid-way through typing “ _what about anything el_ ”—and erased his message when he saw Beth’s Online status disappear.

He froze, thumbs hesitating over the screen, and watched as her Online status reappeared a few seconds later. Then she was _Typing…_

_greene.with.envy: Text me in a few hours? :)_

Right after that, she sent her phone number.

Daryl hit Like on the message and quickly typed out a response.

 _notthatdixon: Sure_ _  
__notthatdixon: Like when?_ _  
__notthatdixon: Don’t wanna interrupt._

 _greene.with.envy: Lol what a gentleman :)_ _  
__greene.with.envy: Amy has to work at 5_ _  
__greene.with.envy: So I should be totally free by then!_

She sent another single kissy face emoji.

Daryl’s cock stirred in his pants and he Liked her message.

 _notthatdixon: Ok_ _  
__notthatdixon: I’ll text you then._

_greene.with.envy: Can’t wait ;)_

Her Online status disappeared and didn’t show back up. He exited his DMs and glanced at the time.

Just three and a half hours to kill until he could send her a text.

And then…?

Well, he’d burn that bridge once he got to it.

* * *

Daryl tried to busy himself with walking Dog and folding clean clothes and finding something to eat for dinner. But over the course of a few hours, he’d grabbed his phone and checked Instagram and Snapchat at least fifty times. And whenever he didn’t find anything new, he revisited the screenshot saved in his Photos.

At one point, he finally gave in and retreated to his bedroom, where he’d locked Dog out for fifteen minutes and taken a little _Me Time_ with his phone clutched in one hand and that photo of Beth burning into his brain. He relaxed a bit after that, sitting out on the porch and smoking a post-orgasm cigarette. But it didn’t stop him from checking Instagram again, or counting down the minutes until five pm.

He didn’t know anyone else named Beth, so he saved her number in his Contacts as simply _Beth_. Out of boredom, he saved one of her selfies from Instagram and set it as her Contact Photo.

Shortly past 4:45, he wandered back over to Instagram and found that she’d posted a new Story.

It was just a five-second filtered photo of Beth, sunglasses on her face and strands of blonde hair blowing loose from her ponytail, sitting in a pool chair with a book grasped in her hand—obviously taken by someone else from earlier in the day. She was surrounded by other bodies, but all Daryl could see was her tiny tuft of belly fat and the strapless bikini that barely covered her top and bottom. He immediately noticed that it was a different bikini than the day before, and he had to replay her Story in order to get a better look. There was a small caption in the bottom corner that read: _Today was a good day_ with a sun emoji and two smiley face emojis.

What the fuck was _wrong_ with him? His cock was twitching precariously and he couldn’t help but wonder how the hell that was even possible after jerking off three separate times over the last 24 hours.

But shit, there was something about this girl that got him… really fucking _excited_.

At 4:59, he opened his Text Messages and tapped on New Message. He selected Beth’s name from his Contacts. Then he hesitated, thumbs poised over the screen and ready to type. He watched the time change to 5:00. He chewed on his lower lip, one leg jiggling nervously.

Finally, he tapped out a message and stared at it, uncertain. 

_This is Daryl._

He pressed the bright green arrow and sent his message. Then he watched as it floated up and formed a new conversation bubble, right below the little circle of Beth’s face and her name. 

A second later, the green bubble turned to blue and a small-printed notification appeared below his message: _Delivered_. Almost immediately, it switched to: _Read 5:01 pm_.

Then the gray typing bubble popped up, three little dots flashing with a silent promise.

Her texts arrived in gray bubbles:

 **_Yes it is :)_ ** **_  
_** **_Hi there :D_ **

Daryl cleared his throat and texted back.

 _Hi_ _  
__Wyd?_

He watched the three dots flash below his blue bubbles labeled _Read 5:02 pm_ , holding his breath.

**_Just got out of the shower. About to eat supper. You?_ **

_Nothing._ _  
__Just been relaxing_

**_Sounds nice :)_ **

_Definitely._ _  
__What you eating_

**_Lol we’re having BLTs tonight_ **

_Oh nice_

**_What about you?_ **

_Idk._ _  
__You_ _  
__Hopefully_

Okay, what the actual _fuck_ was wrong with him?

In his defense, that screenshot was still prevalent in his mind. And he’d been unable to think about _anything_ besides what they might do once they saw each other in person.

Yeah, he was thinking with his dick. Unapologetically. It wasn’t like she hadn’t opened the door. Could he really be blamed for walking through?

 _Delivered_ changed to _Read 5:04 pm_. Then the three little dots appeared. Daryl’s heart skipped and her next message arrived.

 **_Oh my… ;)_ ** **_  
_** **_Are you saying…_ ** **_  
_** **_You want to have me.._ ** **_  
_** **_For dinner ??_ ** **_  
_** **_Lmao_ **

He bit down on his lip and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

_More like dessert._

**_:O_ **

_Is that too far_ _  
__?_

 **_Lol_ ** **_  
_** **_Not at all ;)_ **

_Ok good._

She sent two tongue emojis.

_Wyd rn?_

**_Wouldn’t you like to know_ ** **_  
_** **_;)_ **

_Why else would I ask_

**_Lmao_ ** **_  
_** **_Sitting in my bed and procrastinating getting dressed :P_ **

_Ohh._ _  
__That it ?_

 **_Lol yes_ ** **_  
_** **_Why?_ ** **_  
_** **_You wanna see? ;)_ **

_If you’re offering.._

The typing animation popped up and disappeared just as quickly. Then a photo arrived.

Daryl tapped on it, making the image full-screen. It was a rather vague angle of Beth in a towel, hair wet and hanging down over her shoulders. There was barely any skin exposed besides one thigh, a shoulder, and half of her upper chest and neck. And a corner of her face, mouth tugged upward to form a mischievous smirk.

He’d already given up on trying to stop himself. He allowed his thumbs to tap out responses before he could second-guess them.

 _Nice._ _  
__That all you gonna let me see tho_ _  
__?_

She was typing again. A tense moment later, she replied.

 **_Lmao_ ** **_  
_** **_Idk…_ ** **_  
_** **_Depends ;)_ **

_On what_

**_It’s kinda like filling up on bread before the meal, isn’t it?_ ** **_  
_** **_Don’t wanna ruin your appetite…_ ** **_  
_** **_:)_ **

_Idk if this is really the same._ _  
__I mean_ _  
__Not gonna change my mind that easy_

**_No…? ;)_ **

_Nope._ _  
__You gonna wear those red panties ?_

 **_Lol no_ ** **_  
_** **_They’re dirty now ;P_ ** **_  
_** **_But I have another pair that’s just as cute…_ **

She added a kissy face emoji and his dick twitched in his pants, already half-hard.

He was contemplating his next message when another photo arrived. He immediately tapped it and examined every detail.

Beth had taken another picture from the same angle, though she’d turned the camera just a smidge—enough to reveal the tiny gap between her thighs. And her free hand was grasping the top of her towel, lowering it just enough to reveal one pale breast. Only the edge of her pink areola was visible over the towel, though that was more than enough for Daryl. 

His thumbs raced across the tiny keyboard.

_Shit girl_

He sent two flame emojis.

**_What? :)_ **

_You gonna show me them panties too?_ _  
__Or you just gonna keep teasing me_

**_Lmao_ **

A few seconds later, another photo arrived. But it wasn’t Beth’s body.

She’d sent him a picture of three different pairs of panties laid out across her bed. One pair was black and lacy, another was pink and made of soft cotton, and the last was purple and accentuated with a single ribbon at the center. She’d attached a message:

**_Which one?? Can’t decide… :)_ **

He responded with the first thing that popped into his head—even if it was vulgar and completely inappropriate.

 _All look good_ _  
__Won’t matter once I take them off_

His messages were immediately Read. And she wasted no time texting back.

 **_Good point lol_ ** **_  
_** **_So I should just surprise you?_ **

_Yup._

**_Okay ;)_ ** **_  
_** **_Umm……_ **

_??_

**_Quick question._ **

_Yeah?_

**_Are you actually gonna let me sit on your face?_ ** **_  
_** **_:)_ **

_Really ?_

**_Lol_ ** **_  
_** **_Like.._ ** **_  
_** **_For real??_ **

_Jfc girl_ _  
__…_

 **_Lmao_ ** **_  
_** **_What!_ **

_Dumb question._

**_Not really tho._ **

_Really tho._ _  
__You can sit on my face whenever you damn well please_ _  
__Tf would you need to ask for_

 **_Umm… :)_ ** **_  
_** **_I didn’t wanna make assumptions_ ** **_  
_** **_:P_ **

_Well._

**_So that’s good to know ;)_ **

_Ain’t gonna let you off that easy tho_ _  
__Just so you’re prepared…_

 **_Hmmmm_ ** **_  
_** **_Now what’s THAT supposed to mean? ;)_ **

She followed up with three tongue emojis and two thinking face emojis.

 _Shouldn’t you be getting dressed_ _  
__And coming over_ _  
__?_

 **_Yes, I should :)_ ** **_  
_** **_Are you gonna pick me up?_ ** **_  
_** **_Or should I drive?_ **

_Idk_ _  
__You want me to pick you up?_

 **_Idc_ ** **_  
_** **_Maybe I should drive so you don’t have to waste the gas lol_ **

_Nah_ _  
__I’ll come get you._ _  
__I can take you home whenever you want_

**_You sure?_ **

_Yeah._

**_Okay :)_ ** **_  
_** **_I’ll give you gas money_ **

_Don’t worry about it._ _  
__What time you want me to pick you up ?_

 **_Umm_ ** **_  
_** **_Like_ ** **_  
_** **_8?_ ** **_  
_** **_If that works for you_ **

_Fine with me._ _  
__Got somewhere to be after?_

 **_No lol_ ** **_  
_** **_Why?_ **

_Just checking._

**_Can’t drive if we’re drinking tho_ **

_True_

**_Should I bring an overnight bag? ;P_ ** **_  
_** **_Jk_ **

_If you want._ _  
__Idc_

 **_Oh_ ** **_  
_** **_:)_ **

_My bed ain’t very comfy tho_

**_Lol you say that…_ **

She sent two more kissy face emojis.

 _Where you wanna meet?_ _  
__Want me to pick you up at the driveway?_

 **_Yeah_ ** **_  
_** **_By the road._ **

_Ok_ _  
__I’ll text you when I’m on my way_

 **_Sounds good :)_ ** **_  
_** **_So I’ll see you at 8, Mr. Dixon._ **

_Yup._

**_Should I bring a case of beer too??_ **

_Lol_ _  
__No I have plenty_

**_Alright ;P_ **

_See you soon._

**_You sure will_ **

She added a kissy face emoji and then the three little dots faded away.

He wasn’t sure they’d even need the beer sitting in his fridge. Although he was tempted to fill himself with a little liquid courage before their inevitable… _meet-up_. 

He’d never done something like this before—basically arranging a _sex date_ with a girl he barely knew. 

Well, he _knew_ her. But that made it so much weirder. This wasn’t _just_ some girl—this was Beth fucking Greene. She was an innocent, unblemished farm girl with a college boyfriend. And he was Daryl Dixon; a grizzled, middle-aged redneck with a city girlfriend. Neither of them had any business talking the way they’d been talking. Let alone making plans to “hang out.”

But that wasn’t gonna stop him. Even if it meant suffering through a temporary awkward silence before he finally got the chance to slip his hand beneath those panties, to feel that milky skin against his palms, to taste that glistening nub that she’d teased him with in so many photos. Even if it meant pushing himself out of his comfort zone and crossing that invisible line that had already been all but eviscerated by their social media exchanges.

Daryl was prepared to walk through literal flames for so much as half an hour alone with Beth. He already knew it’d be worth it.

* * *

Just to be safe, Daryl ripped off his bedding and threw it in the washing machine. Then he double-checked and made sure that his house was somewhat presentable. Not that he’d ever really cared, but he didn’t want Beth thinking he was some kind of slob. He wanted her to feel comfortable—if that was possible, considering she knew exactly why she was coming over just as well as he did.

He was nervous and he didn’t like it. He kept checking his phone, though he wasn’t actually expecting any new messages from her until at least 7 or 7:30. And it was barely past 6.

He took Dog out for another walk, smoked a few more cigarettes, and sipped a beer in an effort to calm his nerves. Then he sat out on the porch and watched as the sun began its slow descent toward the horizon. But his head was still full of Beth and all those damn photos and messages. He wound up pulling out his phone in search of something else to keep his mind occupied for the next hour or so.

Of course, as soon as Daryl opened Instagram, his eyes went to the Stories bar and saw Beth’s little photo outlined in pink and purple. He didn’t bother hesitating as he tapped on it.

She’d posted a short video 16 minutes ago with a pop song playing in the background. There was a little music symbol for the caption that read: _(You Drive Me) Crazy - Britney Spears_. Beth was singing along, visible from the waist up as she sat in her bedroom, and she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath her thin camisole top. She was playfully swishing her hair around, smiling, and it looked like she was right in the middle of getting ready after her shower.

He watched her lips mouth along, “ _I’m so excited, I’m in too deep—oh, crazy, but it feels alright, baby thinkin’ of you keeps me up all night…_ ”

His cock twitched in his pants.

The video ended and he was sent on to the next person’s newest Story. But he quickly tapped back and replayed Beth’s.

Shit. He was in trouble.

* * *

Daryl had just finished making his bed with the freshly-washed bedding and brushing his teeth, grabbing his phone and cigarettes on his way to take Dog back outside, when the phone vibrated in his hand. He opened the door and let Dog barrel out into the yard, following at a much slower pace and remaining on the porch.

It was a message from Beth—with a photo.

His heart skipped and he felt his ears turning pink as he eagerly unlocked the screen and opened their text conversation. However, it wasn’t a photo of her this time. He gazed down in confusion for a second, opening the picture and looking closer. It was white text on a black background, and it read:

 _cotton farmer: finally, some rain_ _  
__cotton candy farmer: *running toward his fields* oh shit oh fuck_

What the—she’d sent him a fucking meme…? 

He couldn’t help but chuckle softly, albeit his slight confusion. He tapped on the photo and selected the _Haha_ reaction. Then he texted back.

_Lol wtf ??_

**_Idk :)_ ** **_  
_** **_I thought it was funny lol_ **

_Pretty funny._ _  
__Wyd?_

 **_Helping Maggie clean up the kitchen._ ** **_  
_** **_You?_ **

_Just hanging with Dog._

**_Y’all prepared to have some company? lol_ **

_Definitely_

**_Soon :D_ **

_Gonna be heading out in a few_

**_What is it like a 15 minute drive?_ **

_Prolly more like 20_

**_You sure you wanna pick me up??_ **

_Not a big deal._ _  
__I drive farther just to get to work every day_

**_Okay :)_ **

He didn’t know what else to say so he left the message Read and went back to smoking, gazing out to watch Dog chasing a rabbit.

He kept glancing at the time, anxiously awaiting the moment he’d be able to hop in his truck and start driving towards Beth. Though his heart seemed to hammer even harder with every minute that ticked past.

Admittedly, Daryl couldn’t really focus on his heart. All he could think about was how difficult it would be to hide his erection as soon as she was within arm’s reach.

**to be continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel that sending memes to someone is a whole other level of intimacy that is separate from sexting and sending nudes. In case you were wondering why the fuck Beth was sending some random ass stupid meme.
> 
> I'll admit, this is getting corny.  
> No apologies. Y'all know me by now. You knew what you signed up for.
> 
> Just a warning: this is most likely gonna be 7 chapters rather than 6.


	5. just @ me next time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... turns out, it's not nearly as easy to flirt when there's no phone screen for you to hide behind. And Daryl's even worse at real life conversations than he is at texting. He's also really fuckin' bad at believing that the most beautiful girl he's ever met would want anything to do with him.  
> But he's pretty sure Beth already knew that.

**just @ me next time**

“Load up!” Daryl called out as he lowered the tailgate of his pickup and stepped aside.

Dog came racing at the familiar command and took a running leap into the bed of the truck, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth happily. Daryl slammed the tailgate shut and scratched Dog’s ears on his way to the driver’s side door.

At 7:37, he sent Beth a text from behind the steering wheel.

_Omw_

She texted back a second later and he glanced down at the phone briefly while he began driving away from the cabin and down the dirt road.

 **_Yay! :)_ ** **_  
_** **_Drive safe_ **

She added a kissy face emoji and Daryl smiled stupidly to himself for the next two miles.

* * *

The Greene’s farmhouse was visible from a ways down the road. Daryl slowed as he approached the end of the long driveway, one hand gripping the steering wheel and the other texting Beth.

_Here_

He put the truck into Park and left the engine running. He was a few minutes early so he didn’t mind waiting a bit. He stepped out and walked around to the other side of the truck, giving Dog some attention while he waited for Beth to see his text. Then his phone vibrated.

 **_I see you! :)_ ** **_  
_** **_Here I come_ **

Just as he raised his eyes from the phone screen and turned around, he saw a Beth-shaped form hurriedly walking down the driveway and straight toward him. His heart leapt, hammering away behind his shirt even harder than before.

He tried to suppress an excited grin once she came into view and he could see her in all her real life, in-person glory. There was a wide smile on her face and her long blonde hair was breezing back off her shoulders— _bare_ shoulders, covered with no more than the spaghetti straps of a very _form-fitting_ blue tanktop. There was the tiniest strip of exposed midriff between the hem of the tanktop and the low-rise waist of her tight black short-shorts. And… oh, Christ. She was wearing fucking high heels.

She looked really, _really_ fucking good. Way better than Daryl had been prepared to handle.

And she’d brought a small backpack. Shit. So this was _really_ happening.

He was doubting his own appearance, berating himself for looking like a washed-up pile of dog shit and wondering if he should’ve spent a lot more time and care on his presentability, as she approached closer and closer. Then she was an arm’s reach away, and with a beaming grin on her face, she opened her arms.

“Daryl Dixon!” She closed the distance and wrapped him in a tight hug before he had a chance to stop her.

Not that he would have. But it caught him off-guard. He awkwardly hugged her back, unsure of exactly where to put his hands. The electricity jolted through him as soon as she made contact, and though a part of him wanted to pull away, a much larger part wanted to hold her closer. He took in a deep breath of her scent, flowery perfume and shampoo and that faint trace of grain and freshly-mown grass that had always hung around her.

He wondered if she could feel the way he tensed beneath her touch. Or if she could feel that same jolt of electricity.

He grunted out an even more awkward, “Hey.”

She was still grinning when she pulled away and took a step back, looking up at him with bright blue eyes. “Long time, no see!”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “No kiddin’.”

It wasn’t _quite_ as difficult to look her in the eye as he’d feared, but it still felt… odd. He couldn’t stop thinking about what was beneath those clothes and how he knew exactly what her bare chest looked like underneath the thin cotton of her tanktop. He was consciously avoiding letting his eyes wander down to stare at her very clear lack of a bra.

Fuck, this was _weird_. He shifted his weight uncomfortably and shoved his hands into his pockets. He had no clue how to make the appropriate transition from exchanging explicit photos to greeting one another in person. Though she seemed perfectly comfortable—eager, in fact. Excited.

He had to remind himself that this was the same Beth Greene he’d looked at as nothing more than a dumb kid five years ago. Because if the messages and pictures hadn’t already convinced him, seeing her now certainly did. This was _not_ the same girl he’d leant his coat on the side of the road five years ago. It wasn’t just the lack of baby fat or the addition of breasts either; there was a new sort of confidence about her, an intriguing layer that seemed to have appeared when he wasn’t paying attention.

He’d never felt so goddamn intimidated by someone so much smaller than him.

Although it was a _good_ kind of intimidation.

She squealed with delight and rushed over to the bed of the pickup, reaching in to greet Dog and scratch his ears.

“Aw, you brought yer dog!” She said, letting the German Shepherd give her a friendly lick on the cheek. “He’s so cute!”

“Yeah, he likes takin’ rides,” Daryl said, watching Dog win over yet another admirer. 

“What’s his name?”

“Dog.”

Beth laughed and glanced back at Daryl in disbelief. “Wait—you were referring to him by name that whole time?”

He nodded. “Well, yeah. Suits ‘im, don’t it?”

She laughed again, agreeing, “Sure does.”

She ruffled the fur under Dog’s chin one last time before stepping away and gesturing toward the passenger side door.

“So you ready to go?” She asked, beaming up at Daryl.

He nodded. “Whenever you are.” Then he reached out to open the door, holding it for her while she threw her bag in and climbed up into the seat.

He tried not to stare at the way her ass popped out at him through her short-shorts as she hoisted herself into the cab, although that was nearly impossible. Especially when the very bottoms of her asscheeks were peeking out from beneath the fabric.

Was she doing that on purpose?

He tore his eyes away and slammed the door shut once she was comfortably inside, shaking away intrusive thoughts of which panties she’d ended up choosing.

“What a gentleman,” she teased through the open window.

He scoffed and shook his head, glancing away so she wouldn’t see the smirk on his face and the pink in his cheeks while he walked around to the driver’s side.

* * *

Less than a minute after they’d begun driving away from the farm, Daryl was desperately wishing that he’d bothered to fix the damn radio.

The silence was making his muscles all that much more tense. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand and smoked a cigarette out the open driver’s side window with the other, catching glimpses of Beth from the corner of his eye. She was sitting with her knees pressed together and her hands in her lap, gazing out the passenger window and intermittently craning her neck around to glance back at Dog. Her hair was blowing in the wind and she kept brushing it away from her face.

Daryl’s mouth was suddenly dry and he couldn’t remember ever feeling so self-conscious around someone.

“So how’s school goin’?” He asked.

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. _How’s school?_ Like she wanted to talk about fucking school. She was on summer vacation.

God, he was so _stupid_. He really had nothing better to say…? Idiot.

Yet she turned her head and looked to him with a smile, and cheerily answered, “It’s good—well, kind of exhausting.” She chuckled softly. “But that’s a given.”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t such a stupid thing to talk about after all. Sure as hell better than “how about this weather” or “I can’t stop thinking about your tits in that pic you sent me.”

“What you goin’ for?” He asked, briefly meeting her gaze before looking back at the road.

“I’m about to get my Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Medicine,” she said. “Just two more semesters.”

“Oh, like yer dad?” Daryl guessed. “You gonna be a vet?”

Beth perked up happily and nodded. “Yeah. Well—I’ve got a ways to go still. Once I get my Bachelor’s, it’ll be another few years of Veterinary School. But then yeah, hopefully.” Her eyes lit up as she talked. “I always loved watchin’ my dad work. I’ve wanted to do somethin’ in the medical field since I was little. And it gives me an excuse to be around animals all day. So, ya know, win-win.”

She giggled and his heart sped up. He had to stop his foot from reflexively stepping down harder on the gas pedal.

He cleared his throat, smirking. “That’s cool. You’ll be a real doctor.”

“Not a _real_ doctor,” She giggled again. “That would take a lot more schooling.”

He shrugged. “Shit, ‘s still a helluva lot more schooling than I could get through. I barely even graduated high school.”

She tilted her head to the side and remarked, “School’s not for everybody. I think about quittin’ all the time. I don’t even wanna _think_ about how much worse it’d be if I was tryin’ ta become like, an actual _human_ doctor.” She chuckled.

He grunted. “Still gonna be a doctor.”

He could’ve felt the way her eyes briefly raked him up and down even if he hadn’t seen it from his periphery. Then she gave a mischievous half-smile and said, “I like the way you think.”

He smirked.

“You make me sound so _impressive_ ,” she added.

“Ain’t that hard to impress me,” he remarked.

At that, Beth laughed like he’d told a joke. Did she actually think he was funny, or was she laughing at how dumb he was? He still wasn’t sure. But either way, she was laughing. And he liked the sound.

Her hands resituated in her lap almost awkwardly. “Well that’s not very reassuring.”

He blushed and glanced away, chuckling as he recalled their earlier conversations over the phone. “Not what I meant.”

She giggled, light and carefree. “I know, I was just givin’ you crap.” He felt her gaze set on him and struggled not to turn his head and meet it with his own. “You really _haven’t_ changed much, have you?”

“I’ono. Guess not.” He shrugged. “Should I have?”

“No.” She smiled thoughtfully. “Not at all. Jus’ makin’ an observation.”

“Was I _s’posed_ ta change?”

“That’s not what I meant. I just didn’t really expect you to still be all… _quiet_ an’ _mysterious_.”

“ _Hah!_ ” He barked out humorlessly. “I’as never _mysterious_. Jus’ don’t go runnin’ my mouth off all the time like Merle.”

Beth snickered, shaking her head. “Thank God fer that, huh?”

Daryl smiled and chuckled quietly. “Got that right.”

“I didn’t mean it like— _negatively_ , though,” she went on more seriously. “Just that you’re almost exactly how I remember. It’s kinda weird, but… _not_. It’s nice. If that makes sense.”

He finally turned his head and looked over to meet her piercing aqua gaze, to see her coral lips curving upward. A shiver ran through his body, straight down to his groin.

The way she was looking at him all but answered his next question. Nonetheless, he couldn’t resist letting the words slip out—just to assure himself that he wasn’t drawing inaccurate conclusions.

“Were you hopin’ I’d be different?” Daryl asked, quickly turning back to look at the road. His hand gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

Fucking moron. Should’ve held that one back. Should’ve asked her more about school, or about her college friends, or even about her family. He was putting _himself_ in this increasingly awkward position, goddammit.

Beth laughed and stretched her legs out across the floorboard, resting her feet sideways in her black high heels. She glanced out the front of the windshield and responded, “No. I was hopin’ you’d be the Daryl Dixon I remembered.” He thought he might’ve seen a hint of red in her cheeks before she turned her face away towards the passenger window and added, “And you are, so… that’s good. I’m really glad.”

He grunted in what he hoped sounded like gratuity, hands already itching to light up another cigarette.

Then she looked at him again, a bashful smile on her face, and asked, “Were you hopin’ _I’d_ be different?”

Should’ve known that would be coming. He’d opened the door for it, after all.

This fuckin’ girl was gonna make him admit to her, with his _own damn voice_ , that he thought she’d grown into the most gorgeous fucking thing he’d ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on.

He chewed his lower lip for a second, hesitating. He muttered, “No offense, but… yeah.”

Her smile didn’t falter. She batted her eyelashes. “So in a good way…?”

He felt his ears growing hot. “Yeah,” he growled out. “And ya are… Different, I mean."

Beth giggled.

Fuck. The blood was already rushing to his dick and they weren’t even halfway back to his house yet. And he was having one hell of a time trying to keep his eyes on the road and off her bare legs.

She seemed practically unaffected by the tension in the cab—or maybe she was just way more confident than he could ever dream of being. But before the silence could reach an awkward lull, she was reaching down and unzipping the backpack she’d brought.

“Oh,” she said, as though she’d just remembered something interesting. “Have you seen these?”

He glanced over and saw her extracting two tiny plastic bottles from the depths of her bag, holding them up for him to observe. He shook his head and she grinned.

“I found ‘em at the liquor store today,” she explained. “They’re little shooters—aren’t they _cute_?”

He smirked and reached out to accept the palm-sized bottle of vodka she was offering. “Pretty cute.”

She giggled and unscrewed the cap on hers with black-lacquered fingertips. “Ready?”

Daryl chuckled and gave her a quizzical look. “Now?”

Beth nodded eagerly, still grinning as she held the open shooter in her hand, prepared to tip it back. “We’re almost there, aren’t we? Ain’t no cops around.”

“ _Pfft_ ,” he scoffed. “Not what I’m worried about.”

She raised her eyebrows almost suggestively. “Then what?” She batted her eyelashes again and he was beginning to wonder if she was doing that shit on purpose. “Are we not consenting adults?”

 _Christ_. He swallowed hard and struggled to ignore the twinge in his pants, completely helpless to the tone in her voice.

“A’right, Greene,” he growled, unscrewing the cap of his own shooter with his free hand and holding it out.

She smiled coyly and threw her shot back. He followed suit. Right after, they both tossed the empty bottles out the window and let them fly away behind them in the wind.

Beth winced a bit, then declared, “Delicious!” She let out a melodic laugh, running a hand through her long blonde hair to push it back off her forehead.

“Pretty good. Convenient li’l things,” Daryl agreed, trying to keep his eyes on the road. Not that there was anyone else out driving around here. They’d only passed one other truck so far and he’d be surprised if they saw another before reaching the secluded road to his cabin.

“They are, huh?” Beth said. Then she casually asked, “So are you still workin’ at that tire shop?”

“Yeah,” he replied, grasping at any chance for normal small talk. “Did some construction gigs the last couple summers but those ended, so ‘s just the shop till they start buildin’ that new complex in Atlanta. Think I can get on over there fer the winter.”

“That sounds cool,” she said. “What about yer brother? I didn’t really get a chance to ask him how he’s been while he was commenting on my ass.” She laughed loudly.

Daryl frowned, shaking his head and refusing to turn and meet Beth’s eyes. He didn’t want her to see the embarrassed frustration on his face. “Still an asshole—sorry ya had ta find out the hard way.”

“It’s fine,” she assured, laughing again. “I wouldn’t’ve expected anythin’ less from him. Is he still workin’ at the shop with you?”

“Nah. He made a big win at the horse track few years ago, bought a couple properties in town with the money. So he’s jus’ some piece a shit landlord now. Got his own place with some girl.”

“Wow,” Beth marvelled. “Merle has a _girlfriend_?”

Daryl chuckled. “I know, right.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “I never woulda guessed.” Then she shrugged and added rather nonchalantly, “But I never woulda guessed _you’d_ have a girlfriend, either.”

His ears were turning red and he knew it, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He let out an unhappy grunt—not that he _purposely_ tried to make it sound unhappy. It just kinda escaped on its own that way.

“‘Spose I _did_ change then, huh?” He muttered.

He could see her shrugging from the corner of his eye, the hint of a smile on her lips as she turned to gaze out the passenger window. “Just a little.”

He really hoped she wasn’t about to bring up his girlfriend some more. Or that boyfriend of hers. He wasn’t sure he’d know how to respond, or how to explain that he cared but that he didn’t care… _enough_.

Thankfully, she diverted the topic altogether.

“Does my dad ever ask you ta come work for him anymore?”

Daryl shrugged. “Did a couple jobs for ‘im under the table last year. Nothin’ too big.”

Beth laughed softly. “Yeah, he said he doesn’t like tearing you away from your _other obligations_ , but he knows he can rely on you ‘cause ya never say no.”

Daryl took note of the way she said ‘other obligations’—almost mockingly. Though he wasn’t sure it meant anything.

He grunted in amusement. “I’d have ta be stupid to say no. He always pays me twice what the job’s worth.”

“Well that’s ‘cause _you’re_ worth it.” She giggled bashfully. ”He always says: _‘that Daryl Dixon, he puts in a full day’s work, an’ he don’t walk away till he knows he’s put in his very best effort.’_ ” She wagged her finger playfully, imitating her father’s voice.

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh yeah?”

She shrugged, tucking her hands between her thighs and grinning over at him. “His words. I’m just repeatin’ what I’ve been hearing fer the last decade or so.” She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

He chuckled and said, “Good ta know yer daddy thinks so highly of me.” Then he cleared his throat and added, “You tell ‘im you were comin’ out ta my place tonight?”

Goddammit. Why did he ask that? He was such a stupid fuck. It was such a completely unnecessary question. If he hadn’t already killed the mood by being awkward as fuck, this would surely be the nail in the coffin.

Yet Beth simply shook her head, the softest tinkling of laughter escaping from her throat. “Not _exactly_ —I said I was goin’ out to catch up with an old friend.” Then she shrugged. “Maggie knows I might not be back tonight, but it’s not like she doesn’t have my number.”

Daryl made a sound of disgruntlement from the back of his throat, though not entirely on purpose.

“It’s fine,” she insisted, picking up on his unspoken doubt. “I _am_ an _adult_ , ya know.”

“I know,” he responded without hesitation. “Jus’ don’t want yer family gettin’ worried or nothin’.”

Why did he keep making up transparent excuses? She could see right through him. He knew she could. But he still couldn’t bring himself to say it: _don’t want your family or your boyfriend finding out about this and huntin’ me down like the dog I am_.

To his relief, she played along.

“They won’t be.” She paused and he felt her scrutinizing gaze burning through the side of his face. “But _you_ sure seem ta be.”

“Nah. Not worried.”

“ _Uh-huh_.” She stifled a laugh. “Just a li’l paranoid?”

 _Christ_. Was she getting off on the risk of this whole situation? Was she getting an extra thrill from knowing he was consciously making the decision to do something he shouldn’t be doing?

‘Cause if so, he was more than happy to feed into that unspoken little kink. And if he were being honest, it kinda got him off in a way, too.

He couldn’t say he’d ever been the type to go for forbidden fruit. But when it was being dangled before him so temptingly, so within reach, practically _begging_ to be picked… 

He resituated his hand on the steering wheel, trying not to visibly squirm in his seat. “Why would I be.”

“‘Cause yer a little scared of my dad… and Maggie. And Shawn.” He could hear the amusement in her tone.

As if she were _daring_ him to contradict her claim.

Yeah. She was definitely getting off on this. Dirty little thing that she was.

He huffed out a breath, smirking. Then he chanced a look over at her, only to be met by glinting blue eyes and the same mischievous smirk she’d been wearing for the majority of the drive.

“‘S alright,” she drawled. “I won’t tell nobody.”

Won’t tell them _what_? That he was scared of her family? Or that he was driving her out to his place with the intention of fucking her brains out?

“Ain’t scared of nothin’,” Daryl grumbled—in what was possibly the least convincing tone ever.

Beth laughed.

Once again, he couldn’t tell if she thought he was actually funny or just stupid as fuck. And oddly enough, he felt like a mixture of both.

It couldn’t be _all_ bad if he was making her laugh, right? Even if she thought he was a pussy.

Then she said, very matter-of-factly, “Me either.”

He swallowed hard.

This girl was trouble, alright. With a capital T.

Fucking.

 _Shit_.

* * *

An excruciatingly quiet two minutes passed, during which Beth gazed out the passenger side window and craned her neck back to watch Dog. Meanwhile, Daryl was racking his brain for any possible topic he could bring up that wouldn’t lead him toward being forced to say the things he didn’t have the balls to say outside of texts and DMs.

He didn’t want to ask about her family again. For obvious reasons. And he was afraid that bringing up Rick or Carol or any of the other people they’d both known for several years would circle back to the Greene’s somehow—or worse, she’d weasel him into admitting that he feared what everyone would think if they caught wind of what he was doing with Beth Greene Herself right now. What he’d already _done_.

Sure, the risk seemed to excite her, but his own self-doubt would quickly diminish that flame if she poked and prodded hard enough.

Regardless, he didn’t want to give her the impression that he was worried what people would think of _him_. Because in reality, he was more worried what they’d think of _her_. He could already hear all the comments that would surely be passed around town: _Downgrade. Slumming it. No respect for herself._ And that would probably be just the tip of the iceberg.

Yeah, he was pretty damn terrified of what the Greene’s would do to him if they found out he’d been sniffing around their perfect princess. But he didn’t really _care_ what anyone _thought_. It wasn’t like they’d all stop talking to him or anything like that.

He just didn’t want Beth to turn around and regret having ever messaged him back in the first place. He didn’t want her to look back on this whole… _adventure…_ and think of it as one big mistake.

More than anything, he didn’t want to disappoint her. But that would be kinda hard to avoid at this point, wouldn’t it? If he didn’t do something to fuck this whole thing up before he was allowed to slip her panties off, he was almost certain that he’d end up blowing his load fifteen seconds in—and then she’d just think he was some kinda two-pump chump. That little high-school-crush-fantasy-turned-reality would be ruined pretty damn quick.

He glanced over and, while she wasn’t looking, admired the way her hair glowed bright gold in the evening sunlight and whipped around in the wind, and how her mouth seemed to be stuck in some kind of carefree perma-smile. Like she was having the time of her fuckin’ life all the time, no matter what. He noticed the marigold yellow nailpolish on her perfectly pedicured toes. The clean-shaven silkiness of her long sun-tanned legs. The slender tone of her arms. The way her thighs were stretching the fabric of her shorts. The little tuft of belly fat that peeked out from beneath her tanktop.

Jesus Christ. What the hell was he doing with a girl this fucking beautiful? What was _she_ doing with somebody like _him_?

He’d never stood a chance. Still didn’t. She was way too far out of his league.

Yet she’d seen him. In person. Up close. And she hadn’t gone running in the opposite direction. In fact, she’d run _to_ him. She’d embraced him. She’d met his dog. She’d eagerly climbed into his truck. And now she was going back to his place.

But he still couldn’t believe she wanted to touch him at all.

Why would she? She could have absolutely anybody she wanted. So why the fuck would she want him?

He decided to stop questioning it and just appreciate whatever he was given. Was this the kind of thing Carl would call “hashtag blessed?” Or was it the kind of thing that would get him relentlessly teased by Tara and Rosita for being “ _too_ lost in the sauce?”

A couple years ago, barely a month after Daryl had even learned what memes were and had been introduced to all of their stupidity via Carl and Tara and Rosita and a couple others, Rick had sent Daryl some dumbass “meme” that consisted of a collage of photos of George W. Bush and Michelle Obama sitting close together and laughing and possibly flirting. The caption at the top had read: _swear to god, bush about to risk it all for michelle._ And of course, Rick—being the unfunny ass that he’d always been—had added a message of his own that said: _look, it’s me with michonne lol_

But, Christ. Now that Daryl was recalling it, he couldn’t help but ask himself… was he a living fucking meme?

Because he was pretty sure if someone snapped a photo of the way he was looking over at Beth in the passenger seat right now, the “hilarious” caption would say something like: _swear to god, daryl about to risk it all for this blonde girl_.

Fucking hell. He was. He was a fucking meme come to life. Some idiot about to risk hell and high water just for the _chance_ to disappoint the girl of his dreams. Goddammit.

Whatever. Did the risk possibility of Andrea’s wrath outweigh the reward possibility of getting Beth into his bed?

If he was being honest… no. Not even close. He’d already asked himself this question several dozen times before driving to the farmhouse. The answer wasn’t going to change now.

Fuck. That was a terrible thing to think. But Beth was just as terrible, wasn’t she? Posting that photo on her Instagram Story with her boyfriend, only to hop into a truck—all long legs and no bra—with Daryl Dixon less than ten hours later?

Did she think he was worth the risk? She must’ve. Or maybe she didn’t. 

Okay, no. _Really_. It was time to stop questioning it and just fucking go with it. He’d read her messages. He’d interpreted her vividly flashing signals. He _knew_ she wanted this. She wouldn’t be sitting less than a foot away from him, in short-shorts and high heels with her hair freshly washed and her makeup carefully applied, if she didn’t.

For once in his life, he needed to just… take what was being offered. And nothing more.

Nothing less, either.

So if Beth actually _wanted_ to take it that far— _with him_ —cool.

If not? He was prepared to deal with blue balls and drive her wherever she wanted to go. At least he’d still have that screenshot at the end of the day. All things considered.

And he was pretty sure she wouldn’t end up blocking him after all was said and done. As long as he didn’t make a _complete_ ass of himself.

So what did he really have to lose?

**to be continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically posting as I write. Still not sure if the smut will be one chapter or two chapters long.. so this might end up 8 chapters once all is said and done... we will see.
> 
> Quick question: what would y'all think if I were to continue this as a series of like, 4 or 5 fics (all around 5-7 chapters long) about them hooking up on her school vacations and slowly developing real romantic feelings for each other? I've got ideas. But I am still undecided.


	6. cats & dogs irl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This. Is. So. Awkward.

**cats & dogs irl**

Beth broke the silence as if it hadn’t ever been tense to begin with. Though that could’ve just been Daryl’s perception; every moment that passed without some sort of casual small talk felt forced and awkward to him. Mostly due to the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about all the things she’d said through Instagram and Snapchat and text. Nor could he stop picturing her photos in his head.

He was making this so much harder on himself than it had to be. But what the fuck else was he supposed to do? How the fuck was he supposed to think about anything except whether or not she’d _really_ sit on his face once they got to his house?

“Jeez, you live clear up by the golf course or somethin’?”

He was turning onto the secluded dirt road that led straight to his cabin.

“Nah,” he responded. “Jus’ up here.”

“Oh—in yer brother’s old place?” She was gazing around, peering through the windshield and the passenger window with a look of recognition on her face.

“It was our dad’s,” Daryl explained gruffly. “Merle inherited it, we used ta live out here way back when. But I moved out a while back. He gave it to me whenever he moved into town with his girl. ‘S cheaper than payin’ rent.”

“That was nice of him,” Beth remarked.

“Fer once,” Daryl grunted.

She giggled softly and glanced over at him. “You like livin’ out here all by yerself?”

“Shit, yeah,” he answered honestly.

“It doesn’t get lonely?”

“‘S too far fer Merle ta drive out every time he wants ta come bug me when he’s drunk. Too far fer anybody else ta come botherin’ me neither. An’ Dog needs lotsa room to run around an’ be wild. I don’t get lonely.”

Beth smiled knowingly and said, “Sounds like it’s perfect for ya, then.”

He nodded, resituating his hand on the steering wheel. “Yup.”

Just then, the cabin came into view from up ahead and she perked up. “Oh, there it is! Wow, it looks a lot nicer than I remember.”

“When’d you ever come out here?” He asked.

She giggled. “You don’t remember that time me an’ Maggie drove out here ta find you ‘cause our dad couldn’t get a hold of you? I think yer phone was off or somethin’.”

“Shit,” he mumbled, a memory he’d nearly forgotten coming back to him all at once. “That was a long time ago.”

“It was,” she agreed. “I was like, fourteen.”

“Yeah, Merle didn’t take very good care of the place when we lived here,” Daryl admitted, lowering his foot on the brake pedal as the truck approached the end of the road. “An’ I didn’t have the time. But I do now.”

Beth hummed thoughtfully, her head on a swivel as she took in her surroundings, one hand holding her hair back from the wind.

He pulled up to his usual parking spot in the grass and cut the engine. As soon as the vehicle settled and quieted, she was grabbing her bag and opening her door to hop out. By the time he’d stepped out of the cab, Dog had already hurdled over the tailgate and into the grass, where he circled in place before dashing straight to Beth.

She happily gave the canine some attention, stumbling just the slightest as he stood up on his back legs and placed his front paws on her chest. She laughed and ruffled the sides of his face with both hands.

“Hey,” Daryl commanded. “G’down. Dog! Stop bein’ rude.”

Dog obeyed and lowered himself back down to all fours, though he didn’t step away because Beth was still scratching his ears.

“Oh, it’s okay,” she cooed, shooting Daryl a gleeful glance over her shoulder. “He’s just excited to have some company!”

“He don’t need ta be all up in yer face,” Daryl said.

“I don’t mind. He’s a good boy.” She gave Dog one last hearty scratch before turning and walking towards Daryl.

He paused and watched Dog trailing at her heels.

Damn mutt was already in love with her. Figures. Dog always liked women. Although he didn’t seem terribly fond of Andrea. But Daryl had always reckoned that was because he could smell the two cats Andrea owned on her clothes. Apparently he couldn’t smell the cat Beth owned. Or he just didn’t care.

“So do I get a tour?” She grinned, eyebrows raised and one hand grasping the strap of her backpack.

Daryl grunted, glancing around. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Ain’t much to tour.”

“May I request one?” Beth teased.

He shrugged awkwardly. “Sure.” He jerked his head towards the large yard. “Here’s the front yard. Over there’s Dog’s favorite pissin’ bush.”

She giggled and followed him as he began to lead the way up to the porch and the front door. Her high heels clicked loudly against the wood surface with every step she took.

“Here’s the porch—”

“Where you spend most of yer time, I presume?”

He grunted in amusement. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

She giggled. “It’s nice. I like it.”

Why was _she_ so fucking nice? He couldn’t wrap his damn head around it. Was she trying to overcompensate in order to spare his feelings? He hoped she knew that she didn’t need to act all impressed and shit. He still wanted to fuck her, even if she thought his place was a shithole and that he lived like a slob.

“‘S alright, I guess,” he mumbled as he opened the door, which he’d left unlocked like he always did.

He stepped inside and moved aside so Beth could step in after him, waiting to shut the door. Dog followed close behind, though he quickly diverted and trotted straight over to his water dish in the kitchen. Which he proceeded to drink from in the loudest and most obnoxious way possible. But Beth didn’t seem to notice. She’d stopped just past the door, gazing around with wide eyes and a smile plastered to her face. 

Fuck, he should’ve sprayed some Febreze or something. It probably stank like BO and dog breath in here. How had he not thought of that whenever he’d been obsessively preparing for her arrival?

“Wow,” she said, still smiling. “This is such a cute place, Daryl. You fixed it up real nice.”

He wasn’t sure how to take that compliment, and he could feel his ears turning pink, so he simply responded, “Shoulda seen it when Merle lived here. Had ta hire a professional cleaning crew after he moved out.”

She laughed and the sound bounced off the walls of his home, ringing through his bones. “Why doesn’t that surprise me.”

Then she stopped gazing around and locked eyes with him, bright and expectant. “Go on—continue yer tour. I’m waitin’.” She flashed a glimpse of pearly white teeth between curved lips.

He chuckled softly and shook his head, gesturing with his head while he kept his hands shoved in his pockets. “Well, here’s the livin’ room. There’s the kitchen. Bathroom’s over there. An’ that’s where me an’ Dog sleep.”

For some reason, he didn’t want to utter the word _bedroom_ aloud right now. It felt odd, almost taboo. Like he was supposed to walk her in there and present the room for her judgment: _“This is where I jerked off to your Snaps and sent you a video of me jizzing into my own hand. And it’s where we’re gonna fuck, so I hope it’s up to your standards.”_

Nah. She’d find out what it looked like soon enough.

Hopefully.

He watched her walk over and set her backpack down on the couch, then she turned and took in her surroundings once more. She leisurely wandered over to the kitchen and gazed around, then over to the bathroom before taking a brief pause outside the doorway of the bedroom, peering inside for no more than a second. Her smile remained. Was she recognizing his bedspread from the Snaps?

“Nice place,” she concluded. “It’s cozy.”

Daryl wasn’t sure if that was a backhanded compliment or not. He shrugged awkwardly. “‘S alright. Nothin’ special.”

“Doesn’t have ta be.” Beth giggled and flashed him a mischievous smirk. “But _I_ think it is, fer what it matters.”

“Thanks,” he muttered, but her heels were already clicking against the hardwood floor again as she headed toward the kitchen.

With every minute she spent inside the small house, she seemed to get more comfortable. Meanwhile, Daryl had never felt so damn tense and out-of-place in his own home.

“You got beers in the fridge?”

“Yeah. Help yerself.”

She opened the fridge door and leaned down to reach inside. “You want one?” She called out.

“Sure.” He was trying not to stare at her ass but it was damn near impossible.

As soon as she turned around and closed the fridge, two bottles in hand, Daryl looked away. But the image of her pert little ass popping through those skin-tight black shorts was basically burned into his brain already.

“Where’s yer bottle opener?” She asked, setting the beers down on the counter and opening the first drawer within reach to search through it.

“Uh, second drawer on the left. Under the microwave.” He wanted to go into the kitchen and find the bottle opener for her, but his feet were planted to the spot where he stood and he couldn’t seem to urge himself to move. Plus, he didn’t want to look like Dog—trailing behind her, constantly at her heels.

Dog stood in front of his water bowl and watched Beth curiously, ears pricked up and head quirked to the side.

Shit. The damn dog was just as enraptured with her every movement as Daryl was. Maybe they were more alike than he’d prefer to admit.

Beth found the bottle opener in the exact drawer where Daryl had told her it would be and made a sound of triumph before stepping over and popping off the caps of their beers. She tossed the bottle caps into the nearby trash can, then she was approaching Daryl with two cold beers in her hands. She stopped an arm’s reach away and held out the beer in her left hand with a smile.

He took it, barely brushing his fingers across her knuckles, and gave a curt nod. “Thanks.” He sipped gratefully, desperate for something to ease his suddenly dry mouth.

She tipped back her own beer and downed a swig, licking the residue off her lips. He tried not to make it obvious that he was staring at the way her mouth had curved around the rim of the bottle, or that he was staring at her mouth at all.

Christ, he was such a fucking pervert. And a creeper—just like she’d _said_ he was.

Then something caught her attention and she stepped around him, heading toward the entertainment center and TV that sat against the wall across from the couch.

“Ooh, you have a lotta movies,” she observed, crouching down and leaning closer to examine the shelves lined with DVDs and Blu rays. 

Daryl turned to watch her and grunted out, “Yeah. Don’t got cable so I kinda ended up with a collection.”

Beth laughed and shot him a look over her shoulder. “Why didn’t you just get Netflix or somethin’?”

He shrugged. “I _do_ have Netflix. Got internet, ain’t like I’m off-the-grid or somethin’. But I didn’t have it fer a while. An’ they don’t always have that many movies—not good ones, anyhow.”

“That’s true,” she agreed with a soft chuckle, running a fingertip along the lined-up spines of several plastic cases. “Maybe we can watch one later.”

“‘F ya want,” he mumbled. He took a long sip of beer.

“You have… _a lot_ of Jim Carrey movies,” she remarked, stifling a laugh.

Daryl rolled his eyes. “Merle left those. He’s been obsessed with Jim Carrey since _The Mask_ came out. And Cameron Diaz.”

Beth chuckled. “Oh—so where’s all the Cameron Diaz movies?”

“He took those.”

She threw her head back and laughed. His entire body tingled and he had to take a swig of beer to stop it.

She stood back up and stepped a few inches to the side, gazing at more shelves of movies. Then her eyes wandered over to the bookcase that sat beside the entertainment center, its shelves packed with age-worn books, as well as a full shelf of vinyl records. And— 

Shit. That stupid fucking framed photo of him and Andrea sat atop the bookcase.

She’d given it to him for Valentine’s Day. Well, more like stopped at his house while he was at work and left it on the coffee table before driving back to Atlanta after they spent a long weekend together. He didn’t even like that picture of them—he’d been having a bad hair day and was in a hat and sunglasses, but she seemed to love how it had turned out. Enough to frame it and “gift” it. He’d placed it on the top of the bookcase so as to avoid another argument about how ungrateful he always acted towards her.

And somehow, his stupid ass had forgotten to put it away before bringing Beth over.

If Beth saw the picture—which she’d have to have been blind _not_ to—she didn’t mention it. Instead, she let out a little gasp of excitement and said, “You have records?” She was crouching down once again on the hardwood floor, setting her beer down beside her in order to paw through the records with both hands, pulling them out one-by-one to get a glimpse of their covers. “Or are these Merle’s, too?”

“Nah. They’re mine. Y’like vinyls?”

“Oh, I _love_ ‘em! My daddy has a big collection that I used ta borrow all the time. He said I can have ‘em when I finish Vet School.” She picked through the collection, absolutely enthralled. “Wow, you have a lotta really good ones. D’you ever play ‘em?”

Okay, so this was something they could talk about if need be. Something they kinda had in common. He made a mental note and relaxed just the tiniest bit.

“Ain’t got ‘em so they can collect dust. Ya didn’t see the record player over there?” He asked, and she glanced back just in time to see him jerking his chin towards the corner of the room, between the wall and the endtable that sat beside the couch.

She looked over to see it and laughed. “Wow, I guess I’m blind. I was too distracted by checkin’ out yer bedroom an’ finding the beer.” She giggled and went back to gingerly pulling records out one-by-one and examining their cover art.

Daryl smirked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and taking another swig of beer.

Yeah, he’d caught that.

“‘D ya wanna put one on or somethin’?” He offered.

“Maybe in a little while,” she said, eyes set on the colorful Queen cover in her hand. “I jus’ wanted ta be nosey.” She slipped the record back into place with finality, then ran a lazy fingertip across the spines of the lined-up books on the shelf above. “You read all these?”

Daryl’s gut twinged and he bristled. Old reflexes. “Yeah. That so hard ta believe?”

Fuck. He hoped that didn’t come out as defensive as it felt. This girl was gonna think he was a sensitive little bitch.

But she just shook her head and flashed him a genuine smile. “No. I was just askin’. I have a bookcase twice this size, but I don’t think I’ve read half the books in it.” She laughed. “I have this problem where I keep buyin’ books even though I have about two _hundred_ that I still need to read.”

His defenses immediately fell and he felt his lips curve into a crooked smile. “I can relate to that.”

She plucked out a book from its spot and held it up for him to see, tapping the cover with one finger excitedly. “This! This is my favorite book of _all time_. Oh my gosh, I think I read it about a thousand times in high school.”

Daryl squinted and recognized the cover: _Pride and Prejudice_. He shuffled his feet awkwardly and grunted.

Okay, he _really_ fuckin’ liked that book. But he had to play it cool—it was a romance novel, after all. Well, essentially. That was why _he_ liked it, anyway.

“Yeah, ‘s a good one. Read it a couple times.”

Beth giggled softly and returned the book to its place, stuck tight in between all the others. Then she grabbed her beer and stood back up, still gazing at the shelves thoughtfully. He could see her chewing on her lower lip, and he could’ve swore she’d stopped and lingered on the framed photo sitting atop the bookcase.

But Dog saw her stand up and take a step back and took it as his cue to trot over to the front door and begin barking.

“Hey!” Daryl scolded, waving a hand in Dog’s direction. “Hush up.”

“Does he have ta go outside?” Beth asked, wandering over to stand beside Daryl.

Dog barked and wagged his tail. She’d said the magic word: _outside_.

“Prob’ly,” Daryl said. “He shits more’an any animal I ever met.”

Beth laughed. “So let’s go sit on the porch an’ let him do his business.”

“Ain’t too hot out for ya?” Daryl asked, barely meeting her eyes for more than a second.

“I’m used to it. Wasn’t that what you said you were gonna do tonight, anyway?” She reminded him. “Said you were gonna sit on the porch an’ get lit with Dog. Sounds pretty fun to me.”

He grunted, shrugging. Dog barked again, as if to agree with Beth. Daryl rolled his eyes.

“Alright, alright,” he stepped over and opened the front door, trying to get out of the way as Dog shoved through and barreled out onto the porch. “G’on, quit yellin’ at me.”

Beth was close behind, following Daryl out onto the porch and stepping over to the small bench that sat next to the rickety old chair while he shut the door. She settled onto the bench, crossing her knees and cupping her beer bottle in both hands, while Daryl took his usual spot in the chair. He might’ve sat down beside her, but that felt too close and he didn’t want to invade her personal space. At least not until she was giving him the cue that it was _okay_ to invade her personal space.

Even with the distance and the separation of furniture between them, he could feel the tension settling in his muscles. He tried to drown it in beer, but it wasn’t working so far. And this beer was already almost gone.

Damn, was he gonna have to get drunk in order to muster up enough courage just to get close to Beth? He really didn’t want to. He wanted to be at least _mostly_ sober—he wanted to be well aware, and he wanted to remember it. _All_ of it.

She must’ve been feeling braver than him because her beer was still nearly full. She sipped leisurely, gazing out across the porch railing and watching Dog run from one bush to the next, lifting his leg and pissing while his tongue lolled out of his mouth happily. Then he disappeared into the woods.

“Where’s he goin’?” She asked.

“Ta take a shit,” Daryl responded, throwing back a swig of beer. “Nobody likes bein’ watched while they poop.”

Beth laughed loudly at that and the tingling returned, spreading through his body and settling in his gut. 

“I guess that makes sense,” she said, her laughter slowly fading out.

He leaned back in his chair and finally turned his head to focus on her, allowing his eyes to linger for longer than a second or two this time. He was trying not to look her up and down _too_ hard, but it was difficult when she was sat there looking so goddamn good. The humidity was already causing a light sheen of perspiration to appear on her forehead and across her bare upper chest. The setting sun cast an orange glow over her entire form, almost ethereal as she sat on the porch and let the late evening sunlight soak through her skin. She gathered her hair to one side and off the back of her neck, seemingly unaware that he was looking at her.

“Whatcha get so dressed up fer?”

He’d wanted to ask since she first approached him at the farmhouse, but he didn’t want to risk making her feel self-conscious or coming off like an ass.

Bright blue eyes flicked over and met his gaze. Her mouth quirked into a confused smile. “Dressed up?”

He nodded, briefly gesturing with his free hand to her shoes and her long bare legs. “Didn’t have ta wear high heels jus’ ta come out to my shithole place.”

She giggled like he’d told a joke and raised her eyebrows. “Yer place is _not_ a shithole. And these aren’t even high heels—they’re wedges.”

He furrowed his brow. “What’s the difference?”

Her smile grew wider and she shook her head, laughing softly. “High heels have like… _heels_. These don’t.” She lifted one foot to show him, pointing to the raised bottom of her shoe. “They’re just like, high wedges. I wanted ta feel tall for a day, is that so wrong?”

This time, he laughed. “Guess not.”

Then she batted her eyelashes and her hands wrapped tighter around the beer she was clutching. “Is that yer way of sayin’ I look _too_ good or somethin’?” Her grin turned mischievous.

He grunted and tried to will the blush in his neck from spreading up into his cheeks. “ _Too_ good—? Girl, that ain’t even possible.”

Holy fuck, did he really just say that?

Yes, yes he did. Because she was giggling and looking away all bashful-like, and he could see the red blooming in her sun-kissed cheeks. Then she was raising the bottle to her lips and taking a long drink of beer.

He mirrored her action but wound up draining the last of what was left in his bottle. He took this opportunity to stand up.

“Need another?” He offered.

She shook her head. “I’m good right now, thanks.”

He nodded and retreated into the house just long enough to dispose of his empty bottle and open a new one before he was closing the front door behind him once more and returning to his seat. He looked out across the yard and saw Dog emerging from the woods, sprinting across the grass happily and heading straight for his favorite tree. He must’ve spotted the squirrel hanging out on the trunk. Then Daryl looked over at Beth and saw that she’d slipped her “wedges” off and set them on the floor in front of the bench. Her legs were criss-crossed before her and her bare feet were tucked beneath her thighs. She smiled lazily, sparkling eyes tracking Dog from across the yard.

Daryl had no fucking idea what to say to fill the silence. He didn’t _do_ small talk. Never had much use for it. No point. But now, he was desperately wishing he’d bothered to pick up on a few more social etiquette niceties. 

Beth didn’t seem to mind the quiet. She relaxed in her seat, sipping her beer leisurely and watching Dog with a faint smile on her face. Maybe she enjoyed the peace every now and then, too.

He didn’t want to sit there and stare at her like some kinda creep, but he _wanted_ to stare at her. So he sufficed with stealing glances from the corner of his eye while he pretended to watch Dog at play. He couldn’t stop the memories of her Snaps surfacing in his mind. The screenshot that was still saved in his Photos. Those damn videos he wished he could’ve saved. It sent a twinge of desire through his core that dribbled wet heat downwards, tugging at the lowest part of his groin. 

He resituated, shifting uncomfortably in his seat and silently ordering his dick to obey him for once. Despite his better efforts, it twitched beneath his pants and he had to resituate again. He finally resorted to resting his ankle on his knee, letting his leg provide cover for the subtly rising bulge in his jeans.

Beth’s tinkling laughter demanded his attention and he finally turned his head to look at her as she commented, “Oh—didja see that? He almost got that damn squirrel.” She laughed again.

Daryl looked out to where her eyes were gazing and saw Dog circling around the base of the tree, stopping and raising his head to watch the squirrel he’d been chasing skitter up the bark and disappear into the branches.

Daryl grunted. “He always gets close. Ain’t caught one yet, though.”

“He just might one’a these days,” Beth said, still watching Dog, fully entertained. “Looks like he’s gettin’ smart about it.”

Daryl huffed out a half-laugh, raising the beer bottle to his lips. “No matter how smart he gets, ain’t gonna give ‘im the ability ta climb trees. Those squirrels are assholes. I think they’re messin’ with him on purpose.”

Beth giggled and finally peeled her eyes away to focus her gaze on Daryl. “What? You think the squirrels are all conspiring against Dog?”

Daryl shrugged. “Prob’ly. They’re smarter’an you’d think.”

“Maybe they think he’s just playin’ with ‘em,” she grinned.

“Might not be wrong. Don’t think he’d know what ta do if he ever actually caught one of ‘em. Just likes chasin’ ‘em around. Rabbits, too.”

“He chases rabbits?” Her eyes lit up. “How _adorable_!”

“Yeah. They ain’t so fast, though. He’s brought a few home.”

Her smile faded and she said, “Aw, he killed ‘em?”

“Didn’t go to waste,” Daryl assured. “Figured he earned ‘em, so I cleaned ‘em an’ cooked ‘em up for him. Seemed pretty happy about it.”

Her smile quickly returned. “You cooked the rabbits your dog caught and let him eat ‘em?”

He paused, uncertain. “Yeah… ‘S that weird or somethin’?”

She laughed. “No. It’s just—I’ono. Kinda _cute_.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes, taking another swig of beer. “All that blood an’ fur wasn’t so cute.”

She scoffed playfully. “Way to ruin it.”

They shared a laugh and his heart thumped a little harder.

“What about that cat you got?” Daryl asked, making his best attempt at what might be considered small talk. Or catching up. Or whatever she wanted to call this weird and slightly forced conversation between them. “Don’t it ever bring ya dead lizards an’ birds an’ shit?”

Beth sighed, though it was light-hearted and she was still smiling. “ _A lot_. Mostly lizards. A few birds. There was one day in high school when I woke up an’ found a dead snake in my bed.”

“Jesus Christ,” Daryl blurted, a genuine laugh escaping his throat. “Think I woulda shit my fuckin’ pants.”

She laughed loudly, nodding. “Oh my god, I literally almost _pissed_ myself! That little shithead dragged a _whole dead snake_ into the house an’ up the stairs—and _into_ my _bedroom_ —while everybody was still asleep. I almost threw him out the window, I was so mad!”

Daryl shook his head, sipping his beer and chuckling softly. “Little fucker.”

Then she shrugged, taking a swig of beer before she concluded, “I couldn’t be _too_ mad at him, though. I know it was with good intentions. He was jus’ tryin’ ta give me a gift. Like… I guess that could be considered breakfast in bed, right?”

He laughed again, relaxing without even realizing it. “That’s one way ta look at it, I s’pose. How long you had that li’l bastard?”

She giggled, pushing a stray strand of hair off the back of her neck. “Um, about seven years now, I think?” 

“What’s ‘is name?”

“Barney.”

He scoffed. “Like the purple dinosaur?”

She laughed. “No. Like I found him in the barn. Me an’ Maggie just kept referring to him as Barn Cat till he decided to start followin’ me around all the time an’ move into the house. So it got shortened to Barney.”

“Huh,” Daryl grunted, smirking. “Makes sense.”

Beth raised her eyebrows and gave him a pointed look. “Just a smidge more creative than _Dog_.”

He chuckled.

Then she gestured out to Dog, who was still circling the tree and shooting death glares up towards the branches. “How long’ve you had him for?”

“Almost two years.”

She raised her eyebrows expectantly. “Did you adopt him or somethin’? Is he a rescue?”

He hesitated, taking a swig of beer to stall his answer. “Uh. Andrea found him. Brought ‘im to me ‘cause she didn’t have room for him. Nobody ever came around ta claim him, so I jus’ kept him.”

His girlfriend’s name felt like poison dripping off his tongue. He could see the falter in Beth’s joyful expression, but she quickly brushed it off and acted like he hadn’t just explained how he’d simultaneously met Dog and attained a girlfriend in one quick anecdote.

“Oh, cool,” she said, and he watched her drain the last of her beer. Her tongue flicked out to lick the residue from her lips and another rush of blood went straight to his dick. He briefly glanced at her dainty fingers wrapped around the beer bottle, imagining what they’d look like wrapped around— 

Christ. He really was a _pervert_.

“So ‘s that how you guys met?”

He blinked, taken aback and swallowing down a snort of indignance that wanted to escape. “Nah. We were friends fer a li’l while. Met her through Rick an’ Lori.”

The corner of Beth’s mouth curled upward and she nodded knowingly. “Oh, okay. When they were still together. It’s been a while since that, huh?”

Daryl didn’t know how to respond so he simply grunted. “Yup.”

“Wow, so y’all _have_ been together fer some time.”

What the fuck was she getting at? Was this some kinda set-up? A sting or something? Had he fallen for a trap?

“Guess so.” He stiffened and took a swig of beer, then he cleared his throat. “How ‘bout _yer_ guy?”

To his surprise, she chuckled. “How about him?”

Daryl shrugged awkwardly. “How long ya been datin’?”

Her smile disappeared and she shifted in her seat, glancing away momentarily. “Like a year or so. On an’ off.”

“Oh.”

“We met at school. He’s from Nebraska. I spent a couple weeks out there last month, to meet his family.” She rolled her eyes at the memory. “It was… So. Freaking. _Boring_.”

Daryl couldn’t help but chuckle. “What, y’mean Nebraska ain’t the hub of entertainment?”

Beth met his eyes again and immediately grinned, a giggle escaping from her parted lips. “Definitely not.”

“Shit, guess I better plan a whole new vacation then.”

To his relief, she laughed at his stupid joke, blue eyes glinting and zoned in on him. “Yeah, yer gonna wanna rethink that itinerary for sure.”

Then she unfurled her long legs and placed her bare feet on the scuffed wood of the porch, standing up. She gestured to his beer with her own empty bottle. “You want another?”

Daryl tilted the bottle in his hand, sloshing around the liquid inside. He shook his head. “Nah, think I’m good fer now.”

She nodded and breezed past him, leaving a heavy scent of flowers and grain in her wake. He turned his head and watched as she slipped inside, and once the door shut behind her, he let out a sigh and kneaded his knuckles into his thigh.

How the fuck was he supposed to make this less awkward? Shit, he was bad at this. _Really_ bad at this. If Merle were here right now, he’d probably be laughing his ass off at Daryl’s inability to get a girl into bed. Especially a girl who so very obviously _wanted_ to get into bed with him. 

The door opened and he looked back to see Beth standing in the doorway, a fresh beer in her hand and a suggestive smile on her face.

“D’you got playing cards or somethin’?”

His expression was nothing less than confused. “Uh—I don’t think so. Maybe.”

Her smile widened, eyebrows raising. “We should play a game.”

Oh… 

_Oh…!_

**to be continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is gonna be 8 chapters. That's just how it worked out. Sorry not sorry...? Hopefully the smut will be worth the build-up.
> 
> And hey! Just because I'm writing new stuff definitely does not mean I'm abandoning my other fics! More MW is coming soon. More DMMHY even sooner. p@s is a slow but steady project. I promise I'm doing my best to juggle it all! I just have zero ability to tell myself no when inspiration for a new fic strikes. Especially when it's a fun smut fic. Do not fret, though! :) Some fics just take a little longer to update.  
> Endless love to all of you for your patience. I'm a mess!!


	7. what are the odds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never has Daryl ever played a drinking game with a really pretty girl who wanted to fuck him. Nor has he ever tried to calculate the odds that she'd make the first move.  
> Shit. This is _never_ gonna happen, is it?

**what are the odds**

Orange sunlight filtered in through the windows of Daryl’s living room, mixing with the glow of the ceiling fan above to illuminate the scene of him and Beth sitting an arm’s distance apart on the couch. Dog was curled up in the recliner a few feet away, head rested on his paws and eyes shut. The sun was quickly setting outside, bringing with it a chorus of crickets and bullfrogs that seemed to permeate the walls.

As it turned out, Daryl didn’t have any playing cards. Go figure. To be fair, he hadn’t found a need for them ever since he’d gotten the internet hooked up. But now he was wishing he’d held onto a deck.

Because Beth insisted on playing a game, and who the fuck was he to say no? What else would they do? Watch a movie? Listen to a record? Sit on the porch and watch Dog some more? She wanted to play a game. So he had to oblige. She was the guest, after all.

And besides… he didn’t have any other solutions to alleviating the tension between them. He had a feeling this would turn out similarly to when they’d played Truth or Dare over Snapchat. Or rather, he was _hoping_ it would.

Was it really so wrong for him to go along with that knowledge in his head? With that expectation? He was pretty sure it’s what she was getting at, anyway.

He wouldn’t know until he played, though.

This time, she had a new game for him. A drinking game that she’d picked up from college, apparently. He made it explicitly clear that he’d never needed a game to get drunk before, so he wasn’t gonna be familiar with anything she wanted to play. Nonetheless, she happily insisted that she would explain all the rules and guide him through. And she promised he would have fun.

For once, he didn’t doubt that.

Hell, there was no way it could get any _more_ awkward. Not like they hadn’t already swapped photos of their genitals. Not like they both weren’t fully aware of where this was going.

Not like she hadn’t literally sent him a text saying, “ _I want to fuck you_.” 

Yeah, they knew _exactly_ where this was leading. They were both just too fucking awkward to be outright about it when it came to real life without the security of their phone screens.

Or maybe Beth got off on the games, too. What was it Merle always said? _“The chase is mosta the fun, li’l brother. Let ‘er play with ya, females get a thrill outta that shit. Makes the pussy all that much sweeter once she finally spreads them legs an’ lets ya inside.”_

Christ. Since when did he actually take advice from Merle?

“Okay, so there’s a couple games we can play that don’t require a group of people,” Beth explained, turning her body sideways to face Daryl and criss-crossing her legs on the couch, tucking her feet underneath her like she’d done on the porch bench. She grasped her nearly-full beer in both hands. “Like, there’s _Never Have I Ever_. Or we could do _What Are The Odds_.”

He put one arm over the back of the couch and turned his body slightly sideways to face her as well. He’d slipped his boots off and let his socked feet rest on the floor, one leg bent and partially resting on the couch cushion while he grasped a half-empty beer in his hand. “Never heard a either of ‘em. How d’they work?”

“You’ve _never_ heard of those? Not even _Never Have I Ever_?” She repeated, appearing almost bewildered.

He shrugged. “Told ya, never needed games to drink. Me an’ Merle usually stick to darts or beer pong.”

She gave him a crooked smile and ran her free hand through her hair, pushing it back off her face. “Okay, fair enough. So the way that _Never Have I Ever_ works is like, you say something you’ve never done that you think I might’ve done, and if I _have_ done it, then I have to drink. But if I haven’t done that thing, then _you_ have to drink.”

Daryl nodded. “Alrigh’. Pretty simple. What about the other one?”

“ _What Are The Odds_ is a little more complicated. It’s kinda like _Truth or Dare_ , but you’d basically say something—like, ‘what are the odds that you’ll lick the floor?’ And then we both say a number from one to ten, but we have to say it at the exact same time. So like, if we said the same number, we’d both have to drink. And if you said _six_ and I said _three_ , then _I_ would have to lick the floor. But if you said _one_ and I said _ten_ , then _you’d_ have to lick the floor.”

He scrunched his nose up. “Gross.”

She laughed. “It was just an example! I would really rather you _not_ dare me to lick the floor.”

He smirked. “I won’t, ‘s long as you don’t try makin’ _me_ do nothin’ weird.”

“Never.” She took a sip of beer, stifling another laugh, and asked, “Okay, so which one d’you wanna play?”

Daryl shrugged and muttered, “I’ono. Both sound like trouble.”

Beth giggled and shook her head, quirking a brow. “Well, you already _knew_ I’m trouble. Yet you invited me over anyway…”

He felt a twinge in his pants and had to shift slightly to the left, quickly glancing away from her and taking a swig of beer to hide his fluster. Shit, this girl was _bold_. “I won’t deny it.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on ya,” she teased.

The tone of her voice was only making matters worse for the situation between his legs. Jesus.

He shifted again and cleared his throat, flicking his gaze up to meet hers. “How ‘bout the first one? Sounds a little less… risky.”

She smirked and he quickly added, “Ain’t tryna lick no floors jus’ yet.”

She laughed and agreed, “Okay, so you wanna try _Never Have I Ever_?”

He gave a curt nod and held off taking a sip of beer until the game started. Hopefully it would give him an excuse to finish this bottle and get a new one, then he could head to the bathroom and tuck his half-chub up into his waistband.

“Want me to start?” She offered.

He nodded again, glancing back-and-forth between the beer in his hand and the intimidating sparkle in her eyes.

“Never have I ever…” She tilted her head to the side and pretended to think on it for a second, a coy smile playing across her lips. “Owned my own house.”

“Well,” Daryl grunted, gesturing outward to the walls around them.

“So now you drink,” she instructed.

With a shrug, he put the beer bottle to his lips and downed a swig. “Thought you was gonna go easy on me?”

She giggled. “I wanted ta start off with somethin’ obvious. Your turn.”

“Alrigh’,” he said. “Never have I ever uh, gone ta college.”

She appeared momentarily impressed, lifting her bottle in a brief ‘cheers’ motion before throwing back a drink. “Okay, so you get it, right? Pretty easy?”

“ _Mmhmm_ ,” he agreed. “Yer turn.”

Beth’s smile turned mischievous and she took a little longer to think up her next statement. Then she said, “Never have I ever… had to bail my brother outta jail.”

Daryl scoffed and took a drink. “So much fer goin’ easy on me.”

She laughed and said, “Maybe I shoulda warned ya about my competitive streak.”

He couldn’t even try to be offended when she was smirking at him like _that_.

“Well in that case,” he muttered. “Never have I ever lived outside a Georgia.”

“Crap,” she said light-heartedly, giggling. She took a swig of beer and licked her lips. “Got me there, Dixon. I’ll let’cha have that one.”

“ _Hah_ ,” he huffed out. “Jus’ followin’ _your_ lead, Greene.”

She smirked and jerked her chin toward him, as if she were challenging him. “Alright. Never have I ever had a serious relationship that lasted longer than eighteen months.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Awfully specific.”

She shrugged, feigning an innocent smile.

Shit. What had it been so far with Andrea? He had to pause and count on his fingers. And by his calculations, it was about 21 months. Well damn.

He tipped back the bottle and drained the last of his beer. Beth let out a triumphant laugh.

“Yer turn,” she urged.

“Hold on, gotta get another beer,” Daryl said, standing from the couch. “If yer gonna keep playin’ fer keeps like ya are, s’pose I best bring the whole case over here.”

She laughed and he could feel her eyes trailing after him as he went to the kitchen to dispose of his empty beer and grab a new one. Then he wordlessly slipped into the bathroom, leaving his beer on the counter.

“Wow, you gotta pee already?” She called out in a playful tone that could be heard through the door. “We’re barely gettin’ started!”

“When ya gotta go, ya gotta go!” He called back, a smirk on his face.

The giggle she let out didn’t do his half-hard dick any favors as he attempted to relieve his bladder. When he was done, he did his best to tuck his growing erection up into his waistband, checking himself in the mirror to be sure the bulge wasn’t horribly obvious.

He didn’t wanna scare the poor girl off with the clear evidence of his own perversion. He was pretty certain no woman on Earth wanted to know that a guy’s dick was hard until said dick was out of his pants and about to be consensually used on her. No matter _what_ Merle tried to tell him.

What the hell was she _doing_ to him? Considering how many times he’d ejaculated over the last 24 hours, he shouldn’t be so damn ready and rarin’ to go. Yet it had felt that way since the moment she approached him in front of the farmhouse. Just her very presence was… _dangerous_.

If he were a much more confident man with drastically lower inhibitions, he might’ve already grabbed her and pushed her up against a wall with a passionate kiss and a hand on her perfect little ass. But he wasn’t that man. He was awkward as fuck and terrified of rejection, unsure of how to initiate even the most basic displays of affection or acts of intimacy. Besides, Beth seemed to _like_ taking charge. She was just waiting for the right moment to make her move. Wasn’t she?

Or was she waiting on _him_ to make the first move?

Fuck. He hoped not. ‘Cause if she was, this thing was never gonna happen.

He finished washing his hands and emerged from the bathroom to find Beth as he’d left her, gazing around observantly while she waited for him to return. He grabbed his new beer and reclaimed his same spot on the couch, though he tried to discreetly close a bit of distance between them by sitting no more than an inch or two closer when he plopped down beside her. He rested his leg a little higher on the cushion, bent his knee a little more until it was nearly brushing hers. She didn’t seem to notice, smiling at him with her beer still clutched in both hands.

“‘S yer turn,” she reminded him, nodding toward the new beer he was holding.

“Should I go fer an easy win again?” He teased with a smirk.

She giggled and shrugged. “Up to you. One of us is gonna be drinkin’ no matter what.”

Daryl chuckled, wrapping his fingers tighter around the condensation-dampened bottle. “A’right. In that case: never have I ever… uh—shit.”

“Well,” she urged, stifling a laugh and waving a hand in his direction. “Go on, then.”

He rolled his eyes. “Tryn’a think of a good one. Damn, gimme a minute.”

She let the laugh bubble from her lips and pretended to check a non-existent watch on her wrist. He leaned forward and reached out a hand to lightly tap her wrist, swatting it away in a playful manner before retracting his hand almost immediately.

“Okay, smartass.”

She giggled and quipped, “Better than bein’ a dumbass.”

He quirked a brow. “You sayin’ I’m a dumbass?”

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Um, _no_. I’m sayin’ that callin’ me a smartass isn’t an insult.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, yeah. Only you.” Then he waved her off, getting back on track. “Alrigh’, never have I ever, uh—I’ono. Kissed a guy.”

Beth huffed out an incredulous breath and looked at him like he might be stupid. “Seriously? _That’s_ how yer gonna play?”

Daryl shrugged, wordlessly conveying a ‘yeah, so?’

She rolled her eyes in exaggerated resignation and took a long swig of beer.

“Jeez,” he commented. “Ya drinkin’ fer _every_ guy you’ve kissed?”

She sputtered, nearly spitting out her beer as she grinned and tried not to laugh. She pulled the bottle away and covered her mouth briefly, shaking her head. When she composed herself, she met his gaze with a somewhat shocked expression. “ _Excuse_ me…!”

He chuckled, gripping the bottle in his hand a little tighter. He could feel the blood rushing up his neck and into his ears but he didn’t even care. “What? Didn’t say it was a _bad_ thing. But I don’t think those’re the rules, else we’d be shitfaced in no time.”

She laughed and reached out a hand, slapping his knee in a playfully scolding way. His whole body electrified at the contact and the blood was rapidly leaving his neck to shoot straight down between his legs.

“Maybe I was just thirsty, okay?” Beth joked. Then she switched her beer from one hand to the other and said, “My turn.”

“Uh oh,” Daryl said, lifting his bottle as if preparing to drink. “Lay it on me then. I’m ready.”

She giggled and raised her eyebrows. “Never have I ever had sex with a woman.”

“ _Pfft_.” He smirked and glanced away from her bright blue eyes. He took a drink, but then he stopped and lowered the bottle and met her gaze again, a coy smirk curling the corner of his mouth upwards. “Why didn’tcha jus’ say you never _kissed_ a girl? Didn’t have ta get so _explicit_.”

She bit down on her lip and averted her eyes sideways for a second, shrugging. “‘Cause that’s not how the game works.”

Wait— _what_?

He froze, a heat growing in the pit of his belly. “Well shit,” he grunted, still smirking. “You sayin’ you’ve kissed a girl before? You been experimentin’ up at that fancy college a yers, Greene?”

Her cheeks burned red and she pretended to busy herself with taking another long drink of beer, avoiding his curious gaze. “Shut up. I’m jus’ tryin’ ta play _honestly_.” She chuckled and he almost couldn’t believe how embarrassed she sounded.

It was kinda fuckin’ _hot_. 

And shit, there went his dick again. Good thing he’d tucked it up.

“ _Uh-huh_. Yer turn,” he said.

She raised her head and her cheeks slowly returned to their normal shade. “Yeah, it is. Okay, um—well, since you wanna play _dirty…_ ”

“ _You_ started it,” he reminded her.

She batted her eyelashes and flashed a proud smile. Then she said, “Never have I ever…” She paused in a rather dramatic fashion, tilting her head to the side and pressing her lips tightly together with deep thought. 

“Tick. Tock,” Daryl teased.

Beth laughed and shook her head. “Never have I ever slept with somebody I wasn’t dating.”

He reeled at first, blinking. His smirk remained though, and he asked, “ _Slept_ with somebody? Like in the same bed, or—?”

She smiled bashfully and explained, “No! Like—the _classy_ way of sayin’ you _screwed_ somebody.”

He barked out a laugh. “Why didn’tja jus’ say that, then?”

“‘Cause I didn’t wanna be _crass_ ,” she said, her cheeks growing pink. “Are you gonna drink or not?”

He shrugged. “‘Nother easy win fer you.” He took a swig of beer.

“I had a feelin’,” she teased, smirking.

He stifled a laugh, trying his hardest not to give off the impression that he was laughing _at_ her, and asked, “The hell—you really ain’t ever fucked somebody without makin’ ‘em yer boyfriend first?”

Why. The. Fuck. Did he ask her that…?!

The words had spewed out like vomit. Was the beer already going to his head? That was impossible. But he was smiling and laughing way more than he usually did. And that in itself was definitely doing… _something_ to his head. The tension was ebbing away and he was slowly relaxing. Even though he still tensed at every little sound Beth made, every brief touch she offered, every lingering look she laid upon him. At the same time, he was reflexively feeding into all of it.

This felt so damn _easy_. Carefree. And—well, shit. Fun. He was having fucking _fun_ right now. Just sitting and playing some stupid college drinking game with Beth. Who could’ve guessed this would be the case? Certainly not Daryl. 

Not that he _wanted_ it to be tense or anything. But he was so unsure of himself and constantly questioning every signal she gave off. She was so fucking far out of his league, after all. Yet their interactions were beginning to meld into something that felt normal. And nice. And maybe even natural. 

He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t stop thinking about that one particular message she’d sent: when she’d admitted to having a crush on him since high school. Was she putting off the inevitable because she was just as nervous as he was? Or simply because she liked the chase?

Beth’s whole face turned bright red and she looked down, pretending to busy herself with a hangnail while her hair fell down to give her some cover. Her voice was muffled and bashful as she responded, “Maybe.” Then she lifted her head and returned to her previous confidence, a newly energized smile curving her lips as she set her eyes on him. “But that’s not how the game works, Mr. NoseyPants. ‘S yer turn now.”

Daryl grunted and leaned back the tiniest bit. His beer-free hand remained on the back of the couch, fidgeting with the threads of the cushion absent-mindedly. He was putting all his energy into keeping his eyes locked on Beth, watching her dark lashes flutter down and back up, pushing down a twinge of heat that wanted to rise in his throat every time she made eye contact.

“Never have I ever,” he started, letting the words drawl out and hang between them in suspense. Her eyebrows rose and she watched him expectantly. He finished, eyes locked onto hers, “Sent _provocative_ pictures ta somebody I wasn’t datin’.”

“ _Provocative_?” She sputtered indignantly. Then she blushed and held up a finger of protest. “Um, you can’t—”

He interjected and corrected himself, “I never been the _first_ ta send ‘em.”

Her mouth snapped shut and her blush deepened. She glanced away bashfully and drained the last of her beer. When she lowered the bottle and flicked her eyes back up to meet his, she was smirking. “Alright, ya got me there.”

Holy—he _knew_ she’d done that shit on purpose. But hearing her admit it aloud was doing all kinds of things to his blood pressure.

“Y’ain’t doin’ so well in this game,” Daryl teased, his voice coming out in a low growl as he fought to maintain eye contact despite the heated fluttering in his gut. “Maybe y’oughta forfeit an’ play somethin’ else.”

Beth giggled and stood up, walking over to the kitchen and proceeding to dispose of her empty beer. “ _Of_ _course_ you think I’m gonna give up that easily.” She swiped a new beer from the fridge and popped the cap off, returning to her seat within seconds. A coy grin occupied her face, blue eyes glinting with mischief. “But if you wanna play _What Are The Odds_ , I won’t argue.” She took a hearty swallow from her fresh bottle.

“Try’na switch it up?” He grunted, throwing back a swig of his own beer.

She was picking at the paper label around her bottle, eyes flicking up barely long enough to meet his. “Maybe.”

He shrugged and tried to sound as indifferent as possible, even though he was pretty sure the growing knot in his throat was making that impossible. “G’on then. Start that other game.”

She giggled and sat up a little straighter, meeting his eyes. “You sure yer ready?”

“Ready when you are.”

“You remember the rules?”

He nodded. “Yup.”

Her mouth quirked to the side and she asked, “You want me to start?”

He nodded again. _Obviously_.

“Okay,” she said, stiffening with excitement.

Or maybe she was nervous. He couldn’t have been able to tell the difference if his life depended on it.

“What’re the odds…” She hesitated, pausing and worrying her lower lip for no longer than a heartbeat. Her eyes were cast downward, away from his, when she finished, “That you’ll _kiss_ me?”

Naturally, he wanted to spew out a _‘what?!’_ of bewilderment. But that wasn’t how the game worked. And it would probably ruin the whole thing. He didn’t want her to think he was rejecting her.

So he swallowed it back and forced himself to meet her gaze as soon as it flicked back up towards his. He withheld the reaction that threatened to splay out across his face.

 _Play it cool_ , he told himself. _Play it cool_. This was his chance. She was opening up the door for him to make the first move.

He just needed to hide the absolute panic that was rattling his every nerve. And hope that she didn’t change her mind at the last second. Christ, was he _sweating_?

“Ready?” She urged, her eyes glinting. “On three, we give our answer—on a scale from one to ten.”

He gave a clipped nod of understanding, lips pursed.

“One,” she counted down. “Two. Three…”

At the exact same second, they both burst out with their answers. Daryl with, “Eleven.” And Beth with, “Ten!”

They froze. 

There was a beat.

He thought he must’ve misheard her. Maybe she’d said _one_? Maybe he’d been misinterpreting this entire situation?

But then a smile pulled the corners of her mouth upward, until it reached her eyes. He could see her grip tightening around the bottle in her hand. She blinked.

“Did you say _eleven_?” She asked through a stifled laugh. She almost sounded breathless.

Daryl grunted uncomfortably, desperately wishing he could melt down and become part of the couch. His ears were bright red and he knew it, but there was nothing he could do about it. He reckoned his face was probably the same color.

He swallowed hard and forced himself to maintain eye contact. Then he gave a clipped nod. His throat was terribly dry but he managed to rasp out, “We said different numbers. Wha’s that mean?”

Beth shrugged, her smile growing a little wider. A blush bloomed across her cheeks. “Well, it was _s’posed_ ta be a scale of one to ten…”

“Sorry,” he croaked.

Shit. He’d fucked it up.

No. Wait— 

“Don’t be,” she said. Her smile slowly faded but her eyes remained set on him, eyelashes fluttering down and back up. “You said the higher number. I think that still means you gotta do it.”

 _Really_?!

Oh. Fuck. Okay.

He let out a breath he’d been subconsciously holding and mumbled, “What—you _want_ me to?”

He was such a fucking moron. _Of course_ she wanted him to. Jesus, why couldn’t he take a fucking hint? Did he really need to question it this much? She was gonna be completely turned off by his uncertainty.

She’d see how little confidence he actually had and she’d laugh at him. He was just _waiting_ for it. Tensing and preparing for the inevitable.

But then… she didn’t laugh at all.

In fact, her smile returned. Coy, like the glint in her seafoam eyes.

“I said ten, didn’t I?”

Yeah. _Shit_. Yeah, she did.

Daryl didn’t realize how many seconds passed until Beth’s eyebrows rose expectantly, a mischievous smile still plastered to her face. He didn’t notice that she’d leaned the slightest bit forward either, or that she’d moved her hands away from her front and rested her wrists on her knees. As if she were inviting him in. 

Was she?

Fucking hell. There was no more time to question it.

Yet he was frozen in place, unable to breathe. All he could do was stare at her. Like a clueless fucking idiot. He felt 12 years old again, trembling in place at the very prospect of having his first _real_ kiss.

Then she huffed out a breath, half a giggle and half a sigh, and challenged him in the boldest way possible: “What’re you waitin’ for, Dixon?”

What _was_ he waiting for? His gut to settle? His blood to stop rushing straight down to his dick?

Daryl couldn’t even say it was the beer, because he hadn’t drank nearly enough for him to be brave or sporadic. Maybe he was drunk on _her_ ; her smile, the spark in her eyes, the blush in her cheeks.

Whatever it was, it had him reaching out his free hand and leaning forward, eyes locked on hers. And then he was closing the distance between them, and her mouth was literally _inches_ away, and his hand was grasping the side of her face like it was made of glass—though it felt more like satin beneath his fingertips. And her eyelids were fluttering closed and she was leaning into his touch, leaning into _him_. And he was shutting his eyes, too. The rest of his body was practically nonexistent, gone numb save for the butterflies in his stomach and the tingling in his groin.

He didn’t dare exhale until at least three seconds after he’d placed his lips against hers. His breath escaped in a hot rush from his nostrils, ghosting across her upper lip. He could feel her smiling against his mouth. Easily the softest lips he’d ever fucking kissed, hands down. He pressed into them a little harder, running the very tip of his tongue along the seam in an effort to catch a taste of her. She hummed from her throat and it sent a jolt of electricity down between his legs. 

When Daryl finally retracted his hand, pulled away, and opened his eyes, he inhaled deeply and licked his lips. He found big blue orbs staring back at him. Beth’s mouth quirked into a satisfied smile.

She slowly exhaled. Then her voice came out no louder than a whisper.

“Your turn.”

**to be continued…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Insert Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" here lmfao
> 
> Chapter 8? P U R E S M U T.
> 
> And uh... thanks to my 16-year-old coworker, Noah, for telling me about all the crazy new drinking games The Youths are playing these days. Blew my mind. Had to use one in this fic. These damn kids are getting creative. Back in my day, all we had was King's Cup/Circle of Death, Spin The Bottle, and Never Have I Ever. Oh, to be young again...


	8. trouble with a capital T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl knew Beth was a little on the naughty side, based on the naked photos and the dirty texts and all that. But good lord, he was _not_ prepared for this.

**trouble with a capital T**

“My turn?” Daryl repeated, blinking dumbly.

He was still inches away from Beth’s face, though he leaned back a bit when she grinned and batted her eyelashes.

“Yeah,” she reiterated. “It’s your turn now.”

He flicked his tongue out across his lips, hoping for a leftover taste of her mouth. And he found it: the faintest mixture of vodka and beer, and what could only be described as pure sugar.

Christ. She really _did_ taste as sweet as she looked.

And now his dick was twitching beneath his waistband, threatening to grow harder, sending all kinds of unwanted heat up through his gut and outwards into all his limbs. It made his throat dry, made his tongue swell, made his head race like he was fucking plastered. Even though he wasn’t. 

How was he supposed to play this game with her? He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to close this small space between them on the couch and grasp her thighs, run a hand between her legs, cup her ass. He wanted to feel her lips on his again, he wanted to shove his tongue into her mouth and taste every bit of her. He wanted to tangle his fingers in that long blonde hair.

But she was looking at him expectantly. Waiting patiently. He could see how white her knuckles had gone around the beer in her hand, how stiff her neck and spine were, how her face was still angled towards his—like she was waiting for him to kiss her again. Her lips were parted to reveal a hint of white teeth, an eager smile that was silently urging him on.

Okay. So she _liked_ playing this game. She liked teasing him and pushing him to his limits.

He could roll with that.

“What’re the odds,” Daryl started, his voice no more than a growl thanks to his dry throat and the thumping of his heart. “That you’ll…”

He paused.

Fuck. _Fuck_. Yeah, he’d just kissed her. But her eyes were glued to him, and he was feeling the immense pressure. What if he said the wrong thing? What if he ruined the moment?

Daryl cleared his throat, though he didn’t lean back or resituate. He barely moved a muscle, putting all of his energy and willpower into maintaining eye contact.

 _Just spit it out,_ he urged himself. _Just fucking say it. Have some balls and take this to the next step. Do it, ya pussy._

Shit. Why wouldn’t his mouth work? Why was it this goddamn hard? He just needed to say it. 

Beth appeared so expectant. So hopeful.

And he could see the unspoken question in her gaze: _“that I’ll… what?”_

Finally, the words poured from his lips in a breathless growl.

“…go into the bedroom with me?”

Her response escaped as a high-pitched giggle. He reeled at first, but then she grinned.

“Ready?” She asked, and he briefly forgot what she meant. 

Oh yeah. They were playing a game. Numbers and all that.

He nodded.

She counted down like before: “One, two, three…”

At the same second, they both burst out: “ _Ten_.”

Daryl’s heart skipped and shot up to rest in his throat. Beth pursed her lips and quirked a brow. Though she was still smiling.

“Well,” she said simply. As though that decided the matter.

And maybe it did.

Because without another word, she stood up from the couch and set her beer on the coffee table. Then she shot him a glance from over her shoulder and began walking towards the bedroom. He quickly set his own beer down beside hers and followed, his pulse rabbiting the whole time, a thick knot in his throat that prevented him from forming any sort of response. His knees were practically shaking beneath his weight, carrying him anxiously from the couch as he followed after her. 

Seconds later, they were standing inside his bedroom. He stopped abruptly just past the doorway, eyes locked on Beth. She was standing a foot away, smiling mischievously.

Daryl reached over and flipped on the lightswitch, casting an artificial glow over the whole room. In the light, he could see how pink her face had gotten. But unlike him, she wasn’t quaking in place.

Well, he wasn’t either. Not visibly, anyway. But that’s what it _felt_ like. Especially when he was staring back at her, reading the expectant—and slightly _excited_ —look on her face.

What the fuck was he supposed to do next? He wasn’t _nearly_ drunk enough to act on any of the urges that were swelling within him. He didn’t have the courage.

“‘S that it?” She asked, letting out a quiet snicker. “Y’just dared me to come into the bedroom with you…?”

He shrugged awkwardly. His mouth was too dry to voice any sort of response.

Her smile didn’t falter. In fact, it quirked upward. And the glint in her eyes returned as she gave him the briefest once-over. Then she made a small sound of amusement—or embarrassment—and turned her gaze down towards the floor.

Her voice was quiet and bashful as she said, “What’re the odds that you’ll... “

His breath caught in his throat and he was silently begging his pounding heart to shut the hell up so he could hear her.

“… _fuck_ me?”

Daryl didn’t wait for her to count down. He didn’t care about the rules of the game anymore.

He blurted out, “Ten.”

Beth’s smile bloomed into a full-blown grin, completely unabashed. She lifted her eyes up to meet his, shining bright.

There was a beat. Then she raised her eyebrows, tongue flicking out to wet her lips before she spoke.

“So what’re you waitin’ for, Dixon?”

Jesus Christ. What _was_ he waiting for?

She giggled and added, “Should I—”

But she didn’t get a chance to finish whatever she was about to ask, because Daryl finally pushed himself forward and closed the distance between them. He pressed his mouth to hers, softly at first. Then harder, and heated. She froze and he closed his eyes, holding his breath.

Then she kissed him back. He felt her arms come up to encircle his neck and rest on his shoulders, small fingers finding their way to his scalp. A shiver ran through him. She smiled against his mouth, deepening the kiss as her tongue traced the seam of his lips.

His cock twitched with a delicious pain beneath his waistband, and he hadn’t realized that his hands had reached out and grasped her by the hips until he registered the warm flesh at his fingertips. As soon as her tongue slipped into his mouth, she let out a little moan. It vibrated through his jaw and sent a shock of pleasure straight down to his throbbing dick. He couldn’t stop the hungry growl that escaped the back of his throat. But Beth seemed to like it, because she kissed him a little harder and pulled him closer, and he allowed the rest of his inhibitions to fall away.

Finally.

All the nagging self-doubt within his head was suddenly silent—well, for the most part. He was still worried that he had bad breath, or that she would hate how scratchy his beard felt against her impossibly soft face. But other than that, it was like getting the green light he’d been patiently waiting for. And the sudden burst of courage he’d so desperately needed.

Yeah, she wanted him. Hell, she was practically _throwing_ herself at him.

He was gonna enjoy the _fuck_ outta this.

Daryl grasped Beth’s hips and gave them a firm squeeze before pulling her in closer, until she was pressed so tight against him that he knew she could feel the bulge in his pants. And she definitely did, because she grinded up against it just enough to make him quiver. She dragged her nails down the back of his scalp and elicited another growl from the back of his throat. He lifted one hand up to cup the back of her skull, tangling his fingers in her hair and tilting her head back just the slightest. He ran his tongue across hers, then pulled it back and nipped at her lower lip. She moaned, her breath hot and stuttered. He could feel her quickened pulse thrumming beneath his fingertips.

He didn’t have a chance to react when she pulled her arms away and took the smallest step back. He opened his eyes to see the devilish smile on her kiss-swollen lips, then she was placing her hands on his chest and guiding him backward. He stumbled a bit, stopping once he felt the back of his knees hit the mattress. She gave him a gentle shove and he landed on his back on the bed, knees bent over the edge while his toes grazed the floor. He made a grunt of surprise, then she was on top of him, straddling him and leaning down to kiss him passionately.

Shit. Maybe she’d meant it when she said _she_ wanted to fuck _him_. He wasn’t used to it, but he wasn’t gonna object to Beth taking charge. Not today, at least.

She hummed against his lips, her hands slipping up the hem of his shirt and creating goosebumps across his abdomen. His hips reflexively bucked up toward her, searching for friction, and his hands found their way to her lower back, where he slipped them down just a bit further. Until he was cupping her ass in his palms, squeezing it, tugging her downward and against his straining erection. 

She broke their kiss just long enough to sweep her hair over to one side, though he’d barely noticed it tickling his cheeks, and he panted breathlessly. When her mouth didn’t immediately return to his, he opened his eyes. She paused, her lips hovering inches over his, then her smile grew into a grin.

“What?” Daryl asked.

“Nothin’.” Beth’s eyes sparkled. “I just—been wantin’ to do this fer a long time.”

She giggled bashfully and pressed her mouth to his again. He kissed her back, quickly returning to their prior intensity.

Then he pulled away just long enough to gasp out, “How long?”

Why had he asked that? He didn’t know, but he couldn’t help himself. She had him lost in the sauce already. He wanted to hear how _badly_ she wanted him. Needed to know it was just as bad as he wanted her.

She huffed out a hot breath across his lips, still grinning. “I dunno. Like… since I was sixteen.”

He leaned in and stole a quick kiss, then he whispered the first thing that popped into his head: “So ya _fantasized_ about this…”

She pressed her ass back into his hands and kissed him again, long and deep. He was almost completely distracted, but she broke away once more.

“Yeah,” she breathed out, barely loud enough for him to hear. “More times than I could count.”

Holy _fuck_. He was in danger of blowing his load already. He’d never much cared for dirty talk—or whatever this was—but hearing things like _that_ coming out of _this girl’s_ mouth? He was fighting the urge to roll her over and start fucking her brains out right now. But the prospect of having her on top of him, riding his dick and bared in all her glory, was too tempting to resist. He could wait.

Besides, he wanted this to last. He wanted to _savor_ it.

And at the same time, he needed to know it was genuine.

“Tha’s yer little teenage fantasy or sum’n?” He growled, half-resentment and half-arousal. “Gettin’ a bit a rough, fuckin’ ‘round with an older guy like me…?”

She huffed an amused breath against his parted lips. “Not a guy _like_ you, Daryl. Just _you_.”

Wait… _what_? Oh—oh, _wow_.

With that, every trace of doubt and resentment disappeared. Now it was just _arousal_. Pure animalistic lust.

She seemed to interpret his incredulity through the pause in his motions. And she squirmed against him, bringing him straight back to the present.

She smirked and breathed out, “Told ya I had a crush on you.”

Then she kissed him. Hard. Reaffirming her statement in the most convincing manner possible.

He bucked his hips up toward her again, desperate for any sort of friction. He found it when she placed a knee between his legs and pressed her thigh against the crotch of his jeans. He moaned into her mouth.

“Christ, girl,” he growled against her lips. “Why didn’tja say summ’n sooner…”

She giggled and he felt her fingers inching farther up his bare stomach, beneath his shirt. She pressed her thigh against his dick again and he groaned in protest. This was fucking _torture_.

But he kinda liked it. No—he _really_ liked it.

“You didn’t notice me till now,” she whispered, accentuating her words with soft kisses. “I didn’t think you’d _ever_ look’t me like that.” She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and added, “‘M glad you finally gave me a second glance.”

 _Shit_. So was he. Holy hell.

His grasp on her ass tightened and he urged her downward, craving her body against his. But she resisted playfully, kissing him long and deep, drawing the moment out while she teased his cock with gentle nudges from her thigh.

“How could I not?” He panted, inebriated by her taste and the sweet scent of sweat coming off her skin. It was all going to his head, stronger and faster than any alcohol ever could. “Yer hot as _fuck_. All ya had ta do was say the word.”

Her fingers were tugging the hem of his shirt upward, silently urging him to disrobe, but her lips remained on his. The sound of amusement she made vibrated down to his throat.

“Like I was s’posed ta know that,” she teased. “Especially when you got a _girlfriend_.”

For reasons he couldn’t explain, those words didn’t make his cock shrivel up like they probably should have—in fact, they did quite the opposite. Some sick part of him swelled up with lust and he ground himself against Beth’s thigh, groaning against her swollen lips.

“That don’t mean shit,” he growled. “Jus’ like that boyfriend you got.” 

She giggled and kissed him with renewed passion, fingernails digging into the exposed skin of his abdomen. “Good ta know. Now take yer pants off and _fuck_ me, Daryl Dixon,” she whispered before pressing her lips to his and shoving her tongue into his mouth.

He had no idea what it was about hearing her speak his full name right against his lips, but without another second of hesitation, he was releasing his grip on her ass and reaching down to unbutton his jeans and shove them down. Beth pulled away and leaned back up to pull her shirt off, immediately working on her short-shorts next. A moment later, she was stripped down to nothing more than panties, while Daryl lay before her in his black T-shirt and navy blue boxers.

His eyes were glued to her bare tits, perky and perfect—just like the photo. And the panties she’d chosen, which he noticed was a separate pair entirely from the picture of options she’d sent earlier. They were red and skimpy, lacy in the front with a tiny bow at the very center. Not the red panties from her Snaps, but just as good. Maybe better. His cock twitched at the sight and his erection was standing at attention between them, nearly bursting through the slit front of his underwear.

She was throwing her leg back over him, reassuming her position straddling his middle while he lay back on the bed, and her cheeks were flushed with pink while an excited smile played across her lips.

“Like them panties,” he growled, reaching out and running a thumb across the lacy front, purposely gliding over her covered clit. “Y’didn’t have those in the picture.”

Beth twitched at the contact of his thumb but didn’t pull away, giggling softly. “Told me ta surprise you. So I did.”

“Yeah, ya did,” he agreed, sliding his hand up to grasp the side of her neck and pull her down to meet his face. His other hand remained on her panties, teasing her clit through the silky fabric with his thumb. She moaned against his lips and he kissed her harder, slipping his tongue into her mouth to meet hers.

He let his fingers wander until they found the dampness pooling at her center, just inches below her clit. He pressed into it and elicited another moan from her mouth. Her hips bucked smoothly into his hand, barely more than an involuntary twitch.

“Yer wet already, ain’tcha,” he growled, nipping at her bottom lip with his teeth.

“‘Course I am,” she gasped out, pressing herself against his palm with more purpose this time. “I’ve been _waitin’_ fer you to touch me like this.”

“Yeah?” He urged, his voice heavy with desire. “You ever think about me while you was touchin’ yerself? Before all them Snapchats?”

She grinned into his kiss and whispered, “Yeah. You were my _favorite_ person to think about whenever I touched myself…”

Holy _fuck_. He had to consciously reel his dick back in, struggling to resist the urge to come right then and there. His thumb pressed against her slit through the cotton of her panties and she let out a soft moan. He tensed, fighting back a premature orgasm.

“ _Jesus_ ,” he huffed out across her lips, kissing her desperately before he could finish the sentiment. “You really wanted me that bad?”

She bucked into his hand and his cock twitched painfully, engorged nearly to the point of bursting.

“ _So_ bad,” she squealed, sinking her teeth into his lower lip for a moment. She mumbled between deep kisses, “I liked to think about what you’d look like between my legs… what yer cock would taste like in my mouth… what kinda sounds you make while you come…”

Shit. Shit shit _shit_. This was too much. If she kept talking to him like this, how was he ever supposed to last? His pulse was racing at an unprecedented speed, his dick begging to burst free from the confinement of his boxers. 

“I’ve been wantin’ to know—for a _long_ time—what you’d feel like inside me,” she whispered. “You gonna let me find out?”

“Nah,” he growled back, cupping her hot mound in his palm and eliciting a gasp of surprise from her mouth. “I wanna know what that pretty li’l pussy tastes like first.”

She trailed her lips down away from his mouth, peppering soft kisses through the scruff of his beard and along his jawline, making her way slowly to his neck. He could feel her arousal through her panties and he smoothly slipped one finger beneath the fabric, immediately finding her clit and giving it a soft pinch with his thumb and index finger. She moaned against his neck and pressed herself harder into his hand, and he took the cue to slide his finger through her folds and down to her dripping wet center. He teased her tight cunt with his fingertip, resisting the urge to buck his hips upward. He could feel the precome pooling at the head of his dick and he badly wanted to reach down and touch it, but he didn’t dare risk giving himself too much stimulation when they’d only just gotten started. She sucked lightly on his neck and moaned against his skin again, the vibration reverberating through his chest and sending chills up and down his legs.

Then he felt one of her hands abandoning the back of his head and slipping down, down, down… 

He let go of the back of her neck and quickly reached down, grasping her wrist and stopping her just as she was about to slip her fingers beneath the waistband of his boxers.

“Quit teasin’ me, girl,” Daryl growled in Beth’s ear, and she lifted her head to meet his eyes. “Said you was gonna sit on my face—g’on then.” 

She grinned and he released her wrist, though his other hand remained inside her panties. She pressed down against his finger and he let out a little gasp when he felt the very tip of his finger effortlessly slip inside her soaking wet pussy. His cock twitched. He badly wanted to rip those damn panties off and throw her over onto her back.

Fuck, she was _tight_.

“That really what you want?” She asked, staring down at him with heavy-lidded eyes.

“Y’gonna make me beg?”

Her grin turned devilish. “Maybe.”

He licked his lips, glancing her up and down, from red panties to pert tits and back to those licentious blue orbs. “Please…?”

She pushed down against his finger and he didn’t try to stop it from sliding farther inside her. She let out a half-choked moan and he quickly reached up with his free hand to cup one of her breasts, squeezing it lightly and teasing her pebbled nipple against the skin of his palm.

“Please, what?” She urged him on, her voice breathy and strained.

He grunted, and this time he slid his finger the rest of the way in without any intervention. She let out a loud moan and he wiggled his digit inside her tight walls, but only long enough to tease her.

“ _Please_ ,” he growled. “Sit on my face, Beth. Lemme _taste_ ya.”

That must’ve been exactly what she was waiting for— _thank God_ , ‘cause he wasn’t sure he could wait one more second with the way his cock was throbbing—because she didn’t waste another moment with hesitation. She pulled her panties off and he pulled both hands back, yanking his boxers down and kicking them aside. Then she was straddling him again, situating herself over his chest this time. He grasped her by the thighs and watched with wide eyes as she inched up and up, positioning herself carefully over his waiting mouth. Once she was steady, sitting with her knees on either side of his head and her hands grasping the headboard of the bed for support, she lowered herself down.

She let out a little gasp when his tongue flicked out and caught a teasing taste, and her thighs trembled in his hands. Then he kept his eyes up, set on her—the flat expanse of her tummy leading up to the hills of her breasts and the curve of her throat—and wrapped his lips around her swollen clit. She threw her head back and moaned. The sound echoed off the bedroom walls and sent another rush of blood down to his already painfully engorged cock.

His mouth and nose were filled with her saccharine flavor and the aroma of her arousal, and he had to consciously remind himself to pull away long enough to get oxygen. But once his lips were wrapped around her clit and his tongue was tracing patterns through her folds and lapping at the sticky sweet juices that rewarded his efforts, he was basically lost to the world.

He stared up at her and watched her reactions, the jerk movements of her body, felt her legs clenching around his head. His fingers dug into the supple skin of her thighs and steadied her, assuring she would remain upright. The headboard was squeaking from how hard she was gripping it, and a few more light sucks on her clit elicited another loud moan of pleasure from her slackened jaw. She panted, breathless, and he kept sucking, alternating between that and teasing her clit with his tongue, then tracing down through the wetness of her folds and flicking out at her soaking entrance.

Her arousal was coating his lips and wet in his beard, but he couldn’t have cared less. He licked his mouth clean and went back for more, barely giving her a chance to catch her breath. Her muscles were clenching tighter and tighter, and though he thought it impossible, her pussy was getting wetter and wetter against his lips.

Daryl groaned from deep in his throat while his lips were wrapped around Beth’s clit this time, and he could see—and _feel_ —the shockwaves that coursed through her limbs as a result. She jerked and tossed her head back, stray hairs sticking to her perspiring face. Her whole body was flushed, glistening in the low light of the bedroom. He released one of her thighs and reached up to grasp one perky breast, cupping it in his palm and intermittently teasing her peaked nipple with his fingers. She moaned out again, getting louder each time.

He didn’t have to wonder if she was exaggerating, or “faking it,” because he could _feel_ how much she was genuinely enjoying this. Her clit pulsed between his lips, more wetness leaking outward across his tongue. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed pleasuring someone else this much.

Or the last time he’d been in danger of blowing his load before he even got inside, for Christ’s sake.

“Holy _shit_ , Daryl,” Beth squeaked, breathless. Her eyes had been squeezed shut but she opened them to look down and meet his, which must’ve done something else to her entirely, because her body jerked again and she groaned, pressing down and shoving her pussy against his mouth. “You look even hotter like that than I imagined.” He groaned against her cunt, precome dribbling down his throbbing shaft.

 _Shit_ , this girl could talk dirty. And he really, _really_ fucking liked it.

One of her hands released its deathgrip on the headboard and reached down to grasp a chunk of hair at the top of his head, fingernails digging into his scalp and sending a delicious twinge of pain through his core. He bucked his hips up toward her reflexively, groaning into her cunt and shoving his tongue inside her. She shivered atop him, then every muscle in her body seemed to tense up at once. His heart skipped and he kept up the work, running his tongue back up to find her clit again.

Beth’s eyes slammed shut and she threw her head back, keening. “ _Fuck_ —I’m coming…!”

Daryl wanted to mumble encouragement against her cunt, but he couldn’t bear to pull his mouth away long enough to do so. Instead, he gave her breast a squeeze and let his teeth graze across her clit. She tensed and froze, letting out a high-pitched squeal of pleasure as her climax washed over her. He shoved his tongue inside and felt her walls clenching and unclenching, her thighs trembling at either side of his head and threatening to give out beneath her weight. He felt the vast difference in her pussy, the gush of wetness, the swollen tenderness that was quickly taking over.

His cock jumped and another drop of precome leaked down his overly sensitive shaft. He groaned into her cunt, lightly sucking her clit while the aftershocks ran their course, her muscles involuntarily twitching. She panted, struggling to catch her breath as her grasp on his hair loosened and slowly released.

With shaky legs, Beth backed away—though not before Daryl swiped his tongue through her folds one more time. She shivered and gasped, then she giggled and let him grasp her thighs in both hands and help her dismount.

He licked his lips and swiped the back of one hand over his mouth, and once she was straddling his middle again, he reached up and grabbed the back of her head, pulling her down into a long kiss. She moaned into his mouth, flicking her tongue out to meet his for a few seconds.

While he was distracted with her mouth, she arched her spine and backed her ass up until the swollen, dripping entrance of her cunt was grazing across his cockhead. His breath stuttered and he broke the kiss, opening his eyes to find blown black pupils staring back at him. She smirked mischievously, her face still flushed from orgasm.

“Hol’ on,” he grunted out, untangling his fingers from her hair and reaching over towards the nightstand.

But before he could even open the drawer, he felt her soft hand wrapping around his cock and giving a gentle squeeze. He gasped and froze, his whole body tensing.

“Fuck—”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m on the Pill,” she whispered, leaning in and capturing his lips in another long kiss. She slid her hand up and down torturously slow, swiping a thumb over the precome gathered at the tip. 

He swallowed back a shiver and mumbled against her open mouth, “Y’sure?”

She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and squeezed his cock, eliciting a deep groan from the back of his throat. “Yeah—I wanna _feel_ you. _All_ of you.”

“Jesus Christ,” Daryl panted out breathlessly, slamming his mouth against hers again and completely abandoning his previous task.

Condoms who? Like he gave a shit. Lord knew, he wanted to _feel_ her, too.

She released her grip on his cock and he bucked his hips upward, searching for something to replace it. He shoved his tongue farther into her mouth when he felt the heat of her cunt hovering over his pulsing shaft, then the wetness of her lips and swollen entrance as she teasingly ran it up and down his cock, mixing her juices with his precome. He groaned and broke away from her mouth to gasp in a steadying breath, then his eyelids fluttered open and he found her watching him with a seductively devilish smirk.

“Y’aint so innocent as everybody thinks, are ya, Greene?” He growled, reaching one hand down to cup her bare ass while the other grasped her hip. 

Her smirk grew into a smile and she bit down on her lip, glancing at his mouth before she whispered, “I never claimed ta be, Dixon.”

“Really shouldn’t be doin’ this,” he muttered as he squeezed her ass and leaned in for another long kiss.

She grinned against his lips and said, “No, we shouldn’t—but that makes it even more _fun_.”

He grunted and she ran her dripping cunt up and down his shaft again, teasing him relentlessly. He let out a groan and kissed her greedily.

“Shit, girl… ain’t gonna argue that. Yer _trouble_.”

“With a capital T.”

She giggled and pulled her mouth away just enough to trail lingering kisses across his jaw and down to his neck, all while her ass was inching back and back, the swollen entrance of her cunt practically begging to have his throbbing cock inside it. He reached down and gave her clit a sharp pinch, eliciting a moan from her mouth that vibrated against his throat. He bucked his hips up, catching her slit with the tip of his cock and groaning in delicious torture.

Then she was pulling away all at once, dismounting and climbing off the bed while he lay there in confusion.

“The hell—”

She shot him a glance over her shoulder and said, “Hold on—there’s somethin’ I wanna do.”

“What?” He watched her race from the bedroom and disappear for a few seconds, and when she returned, Dog was trailing at her heels. “Hey— _out_! Me Time, get out!” Daryl scolded, and the German Shepherd turned and went back to the living room with his tail tucked between his legs.

Daryl looked at Beth quizzically, spotting his phone in her hand as she climbed back up onto the bed. There was a mischievous smile plastered to her face. She threw her leg back over him, straddling his middle once more—though she was on the other side of his stiff cock this time.

“The hell you doin’?” He asked, moving to sit up.

She reached out a hand and placed it against his chest, urging him to lie back down. He obliged, though his brow was furrowed. Then she tapped on his phone screen and asked, “What’s yer password?”

“Zero-zero-zero-zero,” he responded. “Why?”

She giggled, shaking her head, and unlocked his phone. “I wanna do somethin’.”

“Don’t be callin’ nobody,” he said. “Or textin’ ‘em.”

Beth scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, that’s _not_ what I’m doin’.”

Daryl grunted, discontent. “Then what’re you—”

But before he could finish his question, she was setting his phone down beside her—the screen still lit up—and focusing her attention on his cock. She placed a hand on his chest for balance and dragged her slit up and down his shaft. He shuddered and tensed, hissing through his teeth. He barely had time to recover, then she was positioning her entrance over his precome-soaked head and sliding herself down onto his dick. His breath caught in his throat and his hands flew over to grasp her thighs, fingers digging into the soft flesh. Her pussy swallowed him up, inch-by-inch, gripping his throbbing cock with slick, tight heat.

His eyes slammed shut and he didn’t have the sense to do anything more than groan out, “ _F-fuuuuck_.”

She let out a little moan, gasping in sharply as his length stretched her walls. But she didn’t stop until she’d taken him all in.

“Oh god, Daryl,” she purred.

“Yer so fuckin’ _tight_ , girl,” he growled, gripping her thighs a little harder and resisting the urge to shove himself inside her all at once. “Gon’ make me come in no time— _shit._ ”

She lifted herself a bit, sliding up his length and back down very slowly. “Me, too… ugh, yer cock feels so _good_.”

He bit down on his lower lip and moaned from his throat, opening his eyes to watch Beth taking in his cock. But she’d paused, and he saw her reaching over to grab his phone, and then she was aiming the camera down from her chest, putting Daryl and his half-bare torso with his dick between her legs into frame. She was beginning to ride him, picking up speed and building a steady pace that coincided with his light thrusts.

“The hell you doin’?” He growled, his cock jumping inside her and causing her to twitch in surprise. He saw her biting back a moan, her heavy-lidded eyes set on the phone in her hand. 

“Recordin’ for later,” she gasped out, picking up speed and throwing her head back. Regardless, she kept the phone steady in her hand.

Holy shit, this girl was a whole other level of kinky. Daryl had _not_ been expecting something like this. Not at all.

But, what the hell… 

He released one of her thighs and reached over to snatch the phone out of her hand, and when she opened her eyes to see what he was doing, he was recording from his own perspective, aiming the camera at her and capturing everything from her bouncing little tits to the way her tight cunt was strangling his dick. When she saw, she let out a moan of uninhibited pleasure and shut her eyes again, leaning back and placing her hands on his upper legs to get a better balance.

Then she was picking up more speed, sliding up and down on his cock in perfect rhythm with the bucking of his hips. He withheld several moans that wanted to escape, afraid of ruining the video. He’d definitely want to watch it again later. _Definitely_.

“Oh, _Daryl_ ,” Beth moaned, panting loudly and relentlessly riding his engorged cock. 

He couldn’t do it anymore—watch her without _touching_ her, that is. He stopped recording and tossed his phone aside, letting it land somewhere amongst the tangled-up comforter. He went back to grasping both of her thighs and gave a hard thrust up inside her, dragging his dick against the back of her clit and bottoming out. She squealed in delighted surprise, which morphed into a long and drawn-out moan. He could feel his climax quickly approaching, building up like a pressurized heat behind his groin.

She opened her eyes and gazed down at him with a glazed look, a lazy smile on her face as she gasped out, “You gotta send that to me.”

Well… that just made the whole thing about a million times fucking hotter. Holy Mother of _God_.

“Shit, girl,” Daryl growled, slipping one hand up to cup a breast in his palm while his other squeezed her thigh. “Yer a dirty li’l thing, ain’tcha.”

He didn’t know where all these words were coming from, but whenever a thought popped into his head, he let it flow out between sharp breaths and grunts of pleasure. He could tell she liked it—from the way her pussy would clench around his cock, and how she shuddered atop him. She _really_ fucking liked it.

She moaned and pushed her cunt down onto him with a little more force, causing him to let out a sound that was something between a loud groan and a throaty growl. He gave her nipple a sharp pinch and she gasped, thighs trembling. Then he released her breast and grasped her by the hips, fucking up into her. Her cunt tightened and gushed around him, and she threw her head back to let out a guttural moan of ecstasy. He kept going, gripping her hips a little harder and finding that spot behind her clit. And then the sounds coming from her mouth became high-pitched and she was reflexively backing up, trying to slip off his cock.

He growled, “Why ya runnin’ from it—get back here.” He pulled her back down onto him, earning a yelp of surprise that quickly morphed into a high keening.

“ _Jesus_ , Daryl,” she gasped, opening her eyes to stare down at him with wide pupils, a harsh shiver wracking her body. Her fingernails were digging into the flesh of his upper legs but he barely noticed, too focused on the heaving of her chest and the constant stream of sounds pouring from her mouth.

“Don’t yer boyfriend ever fuck ya like this?”

“God, no—he couldn’t if he _tried_.” She paused, regaining balance and catching her breath as she went back to bouncing on his cock, and added, “I like ta pretend it’s _you_ when he’s on top of me.”

“Fuck— _really_?” He gasped, giving a hard upward thrust and making her squeal.

Her squeal drew out into a moan and she panted out desperately, “Really really— _shit_ , right there, Daryl! Don’t… stop…”

She grasped his thighs and rode him hard, and between the combination of her pleasure, her cunt wrapped tightly around his cock, and the unabashed filth coming out of her mouth, the heat was fit to bursting within his gut.

He suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about her getting off to the image of him. _Him_ , of all people. She wished it was _his_ dick inside her, _his_ body on top of hers, _his_ mouth on her pussy.

Fuck. She was the _best_ kind of trouble.

He kept up his pace until his cock was tingling, jumping inside her, repeatedly prodding into a spot that made her keen high and careless. He tweaked her nipple and bit down on his bottom lip, grunting and groaning and trying his damnedest to make it last.

“I’mma come,” he warned her breathlessly, preparing to pause and pull out.

But she didn’t slow her pace or stutter the rhythm they’d built. Instead, she squeaked out, “Me, too. _Don’t_. _Stop_.”

That was more than enough to send Daryl flying head-first over the edge. He grunted and the sound caught in his throat, eyes slamming shut, both hands grasping onto Beth like a lifesaver in the ocean. He gave one more hard thrust into her cunt, then her loud moan filled his ears and he could see nothing but stars in the backs of his eyelids.

“Oh, _Daryl_!” She cried out in ecstasy, and he could feel a gush of wetness around his cock.

“ _Hnng_ —Beth…!” The words escaped his parted lips in a strained grunt as the orgasm ripped through his entire body.

The wet heat poured out from the head of his dick, draining him of every last ounce. He didn’t even know it was possible to come that hard after how many times he’d jerked off today. Yet it was happening. And it felt like it could go on forever, aftershocks relentlessly coursing through him one after the other.

He twitched and groaned, opening his eyes slowly. Beth was limp atop of him, shoulders slumped with exhaustion, her hair a mess and her skin glowing and glistening with sweat. Her eyelids hung heavy over glazed seafoam orbs. There was a satisfied smile on her face and her thighs trembled beneath his grasp.

They took a few seconds to catch their breaths, chests heaving, and then she leaned down to capture his lips in a tender kiss. His cock twitched inside her and she hummed against his mouth. He slid a hand up and tangled it in the back of her hair, pressing his lips to hers hungrily.

They stayed like that for a long moment, sweaty chests sticking together, his dick slowly going soft inside her through the aftershocks. He moved his other hand up to her lower back and found that her whole body was trembling, not just her thighs. He nipped at her lower lip and she giggled softly, her breath huffing out hot across his chin.

His voice came out hoarse and throaty, inches away from her mouth as he gazed into her hooded eyes, “Were you lyin’—when ya said you thought about me…?” He couldn’t seem to force the rest of the words out.

Nonetheless, she knew what he was referring to, and her lips quirked up into an obvious smirk.

“No,” Beth whispered. “Why? Is that… _weird_?” She appeared uncertain for the briefest moment.

Daryl quickly reassured her, “Nah. ‘S just… kinda fuckin’ _hot_.” He stole a kiss and added, “I pro’lly didn’t match up to yer fantasies, though.”

She giggled, her eyebrows rising and her smirk turning into a wide smile. “No, you were even _better_. Why d’you find it so hard ta believe that I _want_ you?”

He shrugged awkwardly and loosened the grasp of his hands on her neck and lower back. “I’ono. ‘Cause I’m twice yer age. ‘Cause—shit, yer _way_ too damn far outta my league.”

Her smile faltered and she pressed her lips to his in a deep kiss. He kissed her back, running his fingertips across the soft skin of her lower back and groaning into her mouth. She inhaled sharply through her nose and pulled away, looking at him with a stern expression.

“Not even,” she whispered. “You were my first—and well, _only_ —um, older guy crush. Not that it really matters.” She giggled awkwardly and pecked his lips. “I always thought you were cute… but then I found out yer _nice_ , too.”

“ _Hah_ ,” he huffed out sarcastically. “Ain’t ever been _that_ nice.”

She batted her eyelashes and said, “You are to me.” Then she kissed him again, and all the tension in his muscles disappeared.

He slowly pulled his lips away and asked, “An’ what if yer boyfriend finds out?”

She giggled. “I’ono—what if Andrea finds out?”

“She’ll rip my balls off.”

 _And your daddy will murder me._ He didn’t say that part, though.

Beth barked out a laugh that Daryl could feel in his cock. At that, he grabbed her hips and gently guided her to lift up and off of him. She let out a little gasp when his dick slipped out, but then she was plopping down beside him and resting one hand on his chest, remaining close to his face while her body was pressed against his side.

“So it can be our little secret,” she said simply, gazing up into his eyes as she rested her head on his shoulder. 

He slid his arm beneath her and snaked it around her waist, holding her closer and resting his hand on the curve of her ass. “Fair enough.” As if on reflex, his other hand slipped up and cupped her elbow.

“‘S that yer way of sayin’ this is a one-time thing?” She asked, a coy look on her face.

He shrugged and laid his head back on the pillow, turning to face her. His fingers absent-mindedly traced shapes across the bare skin of her hip.

“Nah. Does it… _hafta_ be a one-time thing?”

Sparkling cornflower blues stared back at him and she replied quietly, “I hope not. But if it is… that’s what the video’s for.” She grinned devilishly.

“I’ll be watchin’ _that_ every damn day,” he teased.

She chuckled, squirming bashfully against him. “Me, too.” Then her glance flicked over towards the general area of where his phone was sitting. “Oh—you had a missed call from her, by the way.”

Oh yeah, Andrea _had_ said she’d be calling him tonight. Whatever. He couldn’t even bear to picture her face right now, let alone hear her voice over the phone. And not because of guilt.

He scoffed, completely unable to feel anything other than post-orgasm bliss for the time being. “She can wait.”

Beth grinned, biting her lip in a weak attempt to suppress it. She slipped her hand across Daryl’s abdomen, wrapping her arm around his middle and tucking her fingers between his back and the bed.

“I gotta go back to school next month,” she said.

“Sucks,” he mumbled. “You gonna come see me again ‘fore ya leave?”

“If you want me to,” she purred.

He grunted. “Maybe more’an once…”

She huffed out an amused breath. “Maybe we can work somethin’ out.”

“Maybe.”

“I mean, we always got Snapchat. An’ I have yer number now, so…”

“Yeah, but we gotta be careful.”

Her eyes sparkled with mischief and she said, “Told you I can keep a secret. Ya don’t trust me?”

He grunted. “‘Course I do. Jus’ don’t trust _myself_. ‘S goddamn dangerous bein’ ‘round you, girl.”

She nuzzled the side of her face into his chest with a pleased smile, planting a soft kiss on his collarbone from where it peeked out of his shirt. “Yeah well, the feeling’s mutual.”

There was a twinge between his legs and he tried to ignore it, swallowing thickly and licking his lips. “Yer stayin’ the night?”

Her smile faltered momentarily. “I can go home if you want.”

He wrapped his arm tighter around her and pulled her closer, stealing a heated kiss. Then he growled, “‘S _not_ what I said.”

Beth giggled and reached her hand up to run it through his hair, planting a trail of light kisses along his jawline before meeting his lips once more. She pulled away and gazed back at him, all smiles.

“Then I guess yer stuck with me, Dixon.”

It wasn’t exactly what he’d call being _stuck_ with someone. But yeah, sure.

Andrea wasn’t even so much as an afterthought while he had Beth Greene in his bed. He was already risking everything, so why not go for round two? Or three? Or four?

Fucking.

_Worth._

_It._

**the end…?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was... filthy. Please no one ever look at me ever again. I'm going to go hide my face in shame now.
> 
> Also: the end? Noooo. I may or may not have already started writing the next fic for the series.
> 
> Don't put too much thought into the no condom thing. There won't be any unexpected pregnancies, that's not my thing. Beth is just a very naughty girl who didn't want a condom getting between her and Daryl Dixon's actual, real-life dick.
> 
> I hope that was okay. Mostly, I hope it was worth the 7 chapters of build-up LOL  
> Thanks for reading :)


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